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STEPHEN DECATUR 



CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY 




BOSTON 
SMALL, MAYNARD Sf CO. 

1900 



\ 



Copyright^ ipoo 
By Smal/j Maynard iff Company 

{^Incorporated) 



Entered at Stationers' Hall 



XWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

l^ibrary of CcBfHtHi 
Ofneo of thi 

JUN4-1900 

Kcgftttr of C»s?fl|Hfi 
FIRST OO^'^J^dl , % f 1^6-6 




George H. Ellis, Boston 



Tlie photogravure used as a frontispieee 
is taken from a portrait iy Sully j which 
hangs in the library of the United States 
Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. It is 
commonly believed to have been the study 
from which the Decatur medal was made 
in 1813. 



To the Memory of 

MY FATHER 

A faithful soldier and citizen 
of the Bepublic 



PEEFACR 

Stephen Decatur was the most conspicuous 
figure in the naval history of the United 
States for the hundred years between Paul 
Jones and Farragut. While the fame of 
most of the early naval captains^ who shed 
such imperishable lustre upon American 
arms by their exploits on the sea^ rests upon 
a single battle, Decatur, in at least three of 
our early wars, was the he^^o of a half-dozen 
adventurous undertaJcings, any one of which 
would have given a fair claim to immor- 
tality. More than any other captain of his 
time, his name is cherished by his country- 
men ; for he represented to a greater degree 
than any of his contemporaries those fine 
qualities which a pardonable national vanity 
inclines us to consider peculiarly American, 
Sis unfortunate talung off at a compara- 
tively early age, under circumstances pain- 
ful, but dramatic, has added to the interest 
which his name excites. 

An accurate presentation of his life should 



X PEEFACE 

not only show the man as he appeared to his 
contemporaries J hut should exhibit in some 
measure the national life and habit of 
thought and action during the time in which 
he lived. To do this, so far as possible in 
so brief a compass^ has been my aim in this 
attempt to hold the mirror up to nature. 

I have J therefore^ freely draicn upon all 
available sources of information^ including 
many manuscripts^ letters^ and other inter- 
esting matter in the possession of his de- 
scendants and in the library of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania. I gratefully ac- 
knowledge my indebtedness to Mrs. Edward 
Shippen and Mrs. F. C. Getchell, of Phila- 
delphia, grand-nieces of the great com- 
modorCj and to Mr. Edway^d Shippen^ for 
much valuable information {hitherto un- 
published) concerning the genealogy and 
early history of the Decatur family. 

CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY. 

Philadelphia, January, 1900, 



CHEONOLOGY. 

1779 

January 5. Stephen Decatur was born 
at Sinepuxent, Worcester County, Md. 

1787 
Made a sea voyage to Bordeaux for the 
benefit of his health, in a ship owned and 
commanded by his father. 

1796 
Entered the counting-house of Gurney & 
Smith of Philadelphia^ merchants and 
ship-owners, with whom his father was 
associated. 

1797 
July 10. Launched in the frigate United 
States, 44 guns, the first ship of the 
United States Navy. 

1798 
April 30. Appointed midshipman in the 
United States Navy by President Adams. 
May. Joined the United States, Commo- 
iore John Barry. 



xii CHEOIsrOLOGY 

1798 (continued) 
July. Sailed for West Indies. First 
cruise. 

1799 
January or February, Promoted to lieu- 
tenant, provisionally, by Commodore 
Barry. 

Spring. Saved the life of a drowning 
man. 

June 3. Commissioned lieutenant by 
President Adams. 

June. Fought a duel with mate of a 
merchant ship. 

July. Sailed on cruise along the North 
American coast in the ^lited States^ 
Captain James Barron, as her fourth 
lieutenant. 

December. Sailed for France with Amer- 
ican envoys. Second cruise. 

1800 
April 15. Eeturned to America in the 
United States. 

May. Transferred to brig Norfolk, 18 
guns, Captain James Calvert. Sailed for 
Spanish Main. Third cruise. 



CHEONOLOGY xiii 

1800 {continued) 
December, Joined the United States^ 
Commodore Barry, Captain James Bar- 
ron, for a cruise to the West Indies. 
Fourth cruise. 

1801 
February. Eeturned home in the United 
States. 

May. Appointed first lieutenant of the 
frigate EsseXy 32 guns, Captain William 
Bainbridge, Commodore Dale's squad- 
ron. Sailed for Mediterranean. Fifth 
cruise. 

Challenged Spanish naval officer at Bar- 
celona. 

1802 
July 22. Eeturned in the Essex to 
America. 

August 15. Appointed first lieutenant 
of the frigate New TorJc, 36 guns, Com- 
I modore E. V. Morris, Captain James 
Barron. 

September 1. Sailed for the Mediterra- 
nean again. Sixth cruise. 



xiv CHEONOLOGY 

1803 
February. Acted as second to Mid- 
shipman Joseph Bainbridge in his duel 
with the secretary of Governor of Malta. 
March. Eeturned home in the frigate 
ChesapeaJcey 36 guns, Captain James 
Barron. 

Summer. Placed in command of brig 
Argus^ 18 guns. 

September. Sailed for Mediterranean 
again. Seventh cruise. 
November 12. Joined squadron of Com- 
modore Preble. Transferred to the com- 
mand of the schooner Enterprise^ 12 
guns. 

December 23. Captured ketch Mastico, 
4 gunS; renamed Intrepid. 

1804 
February 16. Destroyed the frigate 
FJiiladelphia, 36 guns, in harbor of 
Tripoli. 

August 3. Commanded gunboat divi- 
sion in attack before Tripoli, capturing 
two gunboats by hand-to-hand fighting. 



CHEONOLOGY xv 

1804 (^continued) 
August 7. Commanded gunboats in 
second attack on batteries at Tripoli, and 
received commission as captain in the 
navy, dated May 22, and taking effect 
from February 16, 1804. 
Commanded gunboats on following 
dates : — 

August 24. Third attack on Tripoli. 
August 28. Fourth attack on Tripoli. 
September 3. Fifth attack on Tripoli. 
September. In command of the frigate 
Constitution, 4:4: guns. 

1805 
Summer. Transferred to command of 
the frigate Congress, 36 guns. 
September. Sailed for home. 

1806 
Spring-summer. Commanded squadron 
of gunboats in the Chesapeake Bay, 
superintending the building of many. 
March 8. Married Susan Wheeler, of 
Norfolk, Va. 



xvi CHEOI^OLOGY 

1806 (continued) 
Winter. Commanded Norfolk Navy 
Yard. 

1808 
Made commodore, commanding frigate 
Chesapeake, 36 guns, and naval forces on 
southern coast of United States. Eighth 
cruise. 

1810 
Transferred flag to frigate United States, 
44 guns. Mnth cruise. 

1812 
Jime 21. Sailed in command of the 
United States with Commodore Eodgers's 
squadron. Tenth cruise. 
October 8. Sailed in command of the 
United States with Commodore Eodgers^s 
squadron. Eleventh cruise. 
October 12. Parted company with Com- 
modore Eodgers's squadron. 
October 25. Captured, after desperate 
battle, H. B. M. frigate Macedonian, 38 
guns, Captain John Surman Carden. 



CHEONOLOGY xvii 

1813 
Blockaded witli squadron at New York 
and New London. 

1814 
April. Took command of the frigate 
President^ 44 guns, and squadron. 

1815 
January 14. Ean the blockade off New 
York. Twelfth cruise. 
January 15. Defeated H. B. M. frigate 
Endymionj 44 guns. 

Surrendered the President to a British 
squadron. 

May 20. Commodore commanding 
United States ship Guerriere, 44 guns, 
and squadron. Sailed for the Mediter- 
ranean. Thirteenth cruise. 
June 17. Squadron captured Algerine 
frigate Meshouday 44 guns. 
June 19. Squadron captured Algerine 
brig Estedio, 22 guns. 
June 30. Exacted submission and peace 
from the Dey of Algiers. 



xviii CHEOXOLOGY 

1815 (^continues) 
July 26. Exacted submission and peace 
from the Bey of Tunis. 
August 7. Exacted submission and peace 
from the Bashaw of Tripoli. 
November 12. Arrived in New York. 

1816 
Appointed Navy Commissioner. 

1818 
Acted as second to Commodore Perry in 
his duel with Captain Heath. Prevented 
continuance of duel. 

1820 ^ 
March 22. Killed in a duel with Com- 
modore James Barron. 



STEPHEN DECATUR 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 

I. 

CoNTEARY to the general opinion 
which traces Decatur's descent from a 
French family of La Eochelle, his re- 
mote ancestors came from Holland, 
where the family of de Kater is of great 
antiquity, the name appearing in the 
genealogical records as early as the four- 
teenth century. The family seems al- 
ways to have numbered persons of 
wealth, consideration and distinction 
among its members. A scion emigrated 
from Amsterdam to Bordeaux early in 
the seventeenth century. He married a 
French woman of some rank ; and one 
of their descendants, a merchant, ship- 
owner and privateer, was ennobled by 
Louis XV. in 1733. From this union 
sprang the American Decaturs, though 
the links of transmission are not entirely 
clear. No entry can be found in the 
naval records of France to substantiate 



2 STEPHEN DECATUE 

the claim that the progenitor of the 
family in America, Etienne Decatur, 
was a lieutenant in the French navy. 
He was, however, as had been many of 
his forbears, a sailor ; he was also a bold 
privateersman. He first appears in this 
country at Newport, E.I., before the 
middle of the eighteenth century. He 
became a citizen of this country in 1753. 
In 1751 he married a widow named 
Priscilla Hill, nee George. He died in 
Philadelphia a few years later, leaving 
in very straightened circumstances a 
widow and one child, born in 1752, 
Stephen Decatur, the second, the father 
of the great commodore. 

This Stephen Decatur grew to man- 
hood in Philadelphia, where he finally 
married Miss Anna Pine, the beautiftd 
and accomplished daughter of an Irish 
gentleman. Like his French father, he 
was also a sailor, and commanded mer- 
chant ships and privateers with brilliant 
success during the Eevolution. It is 



STEPHEN DECATUR 3 

evidence of the patriotism of the family 
that they removed from Philadelphia 
when it was menaced by Howe's advance 
np the Chesapeake, and sought safety 
during the British occupation in a little 
two-room log farm-house, twenty-five by 
seventeen feet in size, at a place called 
Sinepuxent, a few miles from the sea- 
shore in Worcester County, Maryland, 
near the present town of Bristol. There, 
of this mixed Dutch, French, Irish, and 
American ancestry, on Tuesday, Janu- 
ary 5, 1779, was born Stephen Decatur, 
the third. The unusual combination of 
different racial strains in his blood seems 
to have worked well. He had the stolid 
endurance and staying power of the 
Dutchman, the gallantry and gaieU de 
cceur of the Frenchman, the pugnacity 
and the good humor of the Irishman, 
and the coolness, ingenuity, persever- 
ance and sea adaptability of the Anglo- 
Saxon. He was the eldest of three 
brothers and one sister. 



4 STEPHE^^ DECATUE 

After the evacuation of Philadelphia 
by the British the family returned to 
that city. At the close of the war, Ste- 
phen Decatur, senior, having amassed a 
comfortable fortune by his privateering 
and other ventures, entered into partner- 
ship with Messrs. Gurney & Smith, mer- 
chants and ship-owners, and in com- 
mand of the ship Ariel, belonging to the 
firm, made many profitable voyages to 
Bordeaux and elsewhere. 

At the age of eight years the young 
Stephen was taken by his father on a 
European cruise for the benefit of his 
health. He was thus early introduced 
to the sea, toward which his inclination 
and ancestry ever urged him. The fam- 
ily being of gentle birth, mingling in 
the best society of the capital of the 
young nation and possessing ample 
means, the young Stephen was given 
every educational advantage which the 
period and environment permitted. 
He was a pupil at the best schools of 



stephe:n deoatue 5 

Philadelphia, the Episcopal Academy, 
and also the academic department of 
what is now the Uniyersity of Pennsyl- 
vania. He was a proud, high-spirited, 
impulsive, generous, courageous lad, in- 
tensely loyal and patriotic, and excel- 
ling in si)orts and games of all sorts 5 a 
born athlete and a born fighter as well ; 
not that he was quarrelsome or bad-tem- 
pered or belligerent, but resolute and 
ready to espouse a cause and defend it. 
He never was afraid to make an issue 
either as a boy or as a man, whether with 
a Tripolitan, an Englishman, a French- 
man, a Spaniard, or a fellow-country- 
man ; and, having made it, he was will- 
ing to pursue it to the bitter end. 

At the age of seventeen he left school 
and entered the counting-house of his 
father's associates, Messrs. Gurney & 
Smith. He had continued his studies 
much longer than the ordinary youth 
not designed for one of the learned pro- 
fessions, and very much longer than any 



6 STEPHEl^ DECATUR 

of the other early naval officers who 
rose to eminence like his. He still con- 
tinued his study of mathematics and 
navigation^ and his inclination toward 
the sea grew stronger. His mother had 
cherished the hope that his fiery nature 
might be tamed by the yoke of the 
priestly surplice and stole, and that he 
would expend his energies in fighting 
the devil rather than man. But fate 
willed otherwise. 

The country was then involved in 
the troubles which culminated soon 
after in the French War. The nation 
was not altogether unprepared. Under 
the stimulus of Algerine depredations 
some time before, in 1794 Congress had 
ordered several frigates to be built. 
Gurney & Smith, who were the agents 
of the navy department in Philadelphia, 
where one of the frigates was in course 
of building, influenced by the evident 
predilection of the young Decatur, 
charged him with the responsible duty 



STEPHEiS" DECATUE 7 

of getting out the keel pieces of what 
was afterward the famous ship United 
States. The young man entered upon 
the work with a zeal begot of his aspira- 
tion, and was actually on board the 
vessel he subsequently commanded so 
successfully^ when she was launched on 
July 10^ 1797, the first of the famous 
ships of the navy of the United States to 
reach the water. 

On the breaking out of the war in 
1798, his father was commissioned a 
captain in the navy, and given com- 
mand of the sloop-of-war Delaware. 
Decatur's desire for the service became 
greater than ever noAv that war was de- 
clared, though in dutiful deference to 
the feelings of his mother he made no 
open application to his father or to the 
department, which speaks well for his 
powers of self-restraint. Commodore 
John Barry, a gallant old Eevolutionary 
seaman, who was appointed to command 
the naval forces in the "West Indies, and 



8 STEPHEN DECATUE 

had hoisted his broad pennant on the 
United States, was fully conversant with 
the situation. Of his own motion, he 
applied for and obtained a midship- 
man's warrant for the young man, which 
was dated April 30, 1798. The consent 
of Mrs. Decatur was obtained, and in 
May the young midshipman joined the 
United States. Being then eighteen 
years old, he made what was in those 
days a very late entrance upon his life 
profession. 

In July of the same year the frigate 
got under way for her station. Fortune 
did not present to the United States such 
opportunities for distinction as were en- 
joyed by the Constellation under Trux- 
tun. No ships of the enemy of a size 
which would make an action interesting 
were met ; and, beyond capturing a few 
privateers and letters- of- marque, noth- 
ing of consequence was accomplished, 
although they met much heavy weather 
and vigilantly patrolled the station, 



STEPHEN DEOATUE 9 

overhauling everything which showed 
itself above the horizon. Commodore 
James Barron, afterward so unfortu- 
nately noted, was a lieutenant on the 
frigate, and performed an act of brill- 
iant seamanshix3 on the cruise, by which 
he saved the ship from a disastrous 
wreck, and made a deep impression 
upon every one. During the cruise, 
Decatur saved the life of a man, who 
had fallen overboard and could not 
swim, by leaping after him and support- 
ing him until both were rescued. Stew- 
art, Somers, Jacob Jones, and others 
subsequently eminent were attached to 
the United States. 

As a school for the young sailor, how- 
ever, the cruise was of great value ; and 
the assiduity with which Decatur ap- 
plied himself to mastering the intricate 
duties of a sea officer, coupled with his 
natural aptitude for the service, enabled 
him to progress so far that after less 
than a year in the service he was pro- 



10 stephe:^ decatue 

moted (provisionally) to tlie rank of 
lieutenant by Commodore Barry, and on 
June 3, at the expiration of the cruise, 
was regularly commissioned in that 
rank by President Adams, and ap- 
pointed fourth lieutenant of the United 
States. 

While on recruiting duty in Phila- 
delphia in June, 1799, he fought a duel 
with the mate of an Indiaman who had 
grossly insulted him in a dispute con- 
cerning some enlisted men who had en- 
deavored to escape the service by joining 
the merchant-ship. Decatur had borne 
the abusive language of the merchantman 
with a reticence and self-control which 
augured well for his future; and it 
throws an interesting light upon the 
spirit of the times to learn that the 
challenge, subsequently sent by him, 
was issued at the instance of his father. 
Decatur, who was a perfect master of his 
weapon, publicly announced to his sec- 
ond that he would not take the life of 



STEPHEN DECATUE 11 

his opponent^ but would shoot him in 
the hip^ which he calmly proceeded to 
do, with a coolness remarkable in a boy 
of twenty. He was untouched by his 
adversary's bullet. 

Shortly afterward he sailed on his 
second cruise, still in the United States. 
This took him up and down our own coast, 
the ship finally conveying the American 
envoys to France to treat for the end- 
ing of the war. They met with terrific 
weather duiing the cruise, but on April 
15, 1800, arrived home in safety. 

After two weeks spent on shore, De- 
catur was transferred to the brig Nor- 
folkj 18 guns, and sailed for a third and 
equally unsuccessful cruise to the Span- 
ish main. Eeturning in December of 
the same year, he entered the United 
States for a fourth cruise to the West 
Indies, which was terminated by the 
treaty of peace. Eeturning home in 
February, 1801, he was appointed in 
May first lieutenant of the frigate 



12 STEPHEN DECATUE 

UsseXy 38, Captain William Bainbridge, 
and sailed with, the squadron of Commo- 
dore Dale to the Mediterranean on his 
fifth cruise. 



II. 

From a period antedating tlie dis- 
covery of America the Maliometan 
States of Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, 
situated on the southern Mediterranean 
littoral, had been accustomed by means 
of cruisers, piratical in essence, though 
secretly sanctioned by their rulers, to 
prey upon the abundant commerce of 
the Mediterranean. The profits of this 
nefarious traffic had been the chief 
source of revenue of the Barbary States. 
Most of the great maritime powers, with 
a pusillanimity as remarkable as it is 
inexplicable, had compounded with 
these barbarians, and by payment of 
tribute had secured a comparative im- 
munity for their trading-vessels. The 
United States had followed the example 
of older and more supine nations, but, 
being weaker than they, had been com- 
pelled to pay heavier tribute, and had 
received less protection. Inequality in 



14 stephe:n^ decatue 

apportioning tribute and making pres- 
ents to the different potentates who 
thrived on this licensed blackmail had 
awakened the antagonism of the Bashaw 
of Tripoli ; and he had announced his 
intention to declare war upon this coun- 
try, — a sad decision^ as it turned out^ 
for that chieftain and his pirates. 

When Commodore Dale reached the 
Mediterranean with the squadron^ which, 
owing to the ignorance of the United 
States that the Bashaw had carried out 
his foolish threat, had been despatched 
merely for purposes of observation, a very 
strange situation was discovered. But, 
having no discretion in his orders, Dale 
confined himself to convoying Ameri- 
can merchant-ships, blockading Tripoli- 
tan harbors, and showing the flag in all 
parts of the eastern Mediterranean, all 
of which he did successfully. The only 
conflict of imx^ortance that occurred was 
the defeat of a large and heavily armed 
Tripolitan corsair by the little schooner 
Enterpj^ise. 



STEPHEN DECATUE 15 

The Essex took part in the routine 
work of the squadron. On one occasion^ 
while at anchor in the harbor of Bar- 
celona, the officers of a Spanish man-of- 
war made themselves so obnoxious to 
the Americans, and especially to De- 
catur, that the latter sent word to the 
Spanish guard-ship one night that he 
would call the chief offender to an ac- 
count the next day. Accordingly, the 
following morning he was rowed to the 
ship, mounted to her deck, and, finding 
that the offending officer had discovered 
discretion the better part of valor, and 
had vanished, he told the officer of the 
deck that the fugitive was a cowardly 
scoundrel, and left a message to the 
effect that, if Lieutenant Decatur fell 
in with him again, he would cut off his 
ears. The Spaniard took good care not 
to fall in with the American sailor, thus 
preserving his ears ; and the Essex, her 
officers and crew, were thereafter unmo- 
lested. An apology for the treatment 



16 STEPHEIT DECATUR 

to wMch they had been subjected was 
tendered by the Spanish goyernment to 
Captain Bainbridge. 

The Msex returned to the United 
States in July, 1802 ; and in August of 
the same year Decatur, as first lieutenant 
of the frigate Weiv TorJc, 36, Commodore 
E. V. Morris, Captain James Barron, 
returned to the Mediterranean. Morris 
relieved Dale with the same indeter- 
minate orders as the latter had received. 
The New YorJc was actively cruising in 
the interests of American commerce 
during the year. 

A circumstance which illustrates De- 
catur's readiness and resource occurred 
on this cruise in connection with a duel, 
in which he was the second, not the 
principal. Midshipman Joseph Bain- 
bridge, the youthful brother of the 
captain of the JEssex, while the frigate 
was at anchor there, was grossly insulted 
in the most public manner by a famous 
duellist, who was secretary to Sir Alex- 



STEPHEN DECATUE 17 

ander B^ii^ the Governor of Malta. The 
insult %ras Q]2e which was not only di- 
recte(i to the yonng midshipman person- 
ally, but also cast a slur upon his coun- 
^ioj and flag. The incident took place 
in the lobby of the theatre, and un- 
der great provocation Bainbridge had 
knocked the offender down. A chal- 
lenge was received by him at once, 
which the public opinion of the day 
compelled him to accept, of course. In- 
deed, it is probable he had no wish to 
decline. He had chosen for his second 
another midshipman as unskilled as him- 
self in duelling ; but, when the matter 
came to the ears of Decatur, the first 
lieutenant of the ship, he immediately 
called Bainbridge to him, and, learning 
the circumstances, promptly offered his 
services, which were gratefully received. 
Availing himself of the right of the 
challenged party, Decatur chose pistols 
for the weapons and fixed the distance 
at four paces, stipulating that he should 



) 



18 STEPHEN DECA.^xJE 

give tlie words ^^Take aim! j^ire!'' 
and that both, should shoot at th^. word 
^^Fire!'' and not before. These i^rms 
were objected to^ and ten paces, 1\q 
usual distance, urged unavailingly. Tht 
second of the challenger stated that a 
duel at four paces looked like murder. 
''Ho, sir/' replied Decatur, ^4t looks 
like death, not like murder. Your 
friend is a professed duellist, mine is 
wholly inexperienced. I am no duellist 
myself, but I am acquainted with the 
pistol. If you insist on ten paces, I 
will fight your friend at that^istance.'' 
This proposition was not to the liking 
of the Englishmen, and they were finally 
forced to accede to the proposed terms. 
Decatur gave the words ^^Take aim !'' 
and, as both antagonists extended their 
pistols, he waited until he observed the 
hand of the Englishman become un- 
steady, and then he gave the word 
^^Fire!'' Bainbridge's bullet passed 
through the Englishman's hat, while the 



STEPHEN DECATXJE 10 

latter missed his man entirely. As no 
offer of apology or expression of satis- 
faction came from tlie aggressor, the 
dnel was continued. Decatur cautioned 
Bainbridge that he must fire lower ; and 
at the second exchange of shots he was 
again untouched, while his antagonist 
was struck in the face and killed. 

This deplorable affair created great 
excitement, and the Governor of Malta 
demanded that Decatur and Bainbridge 
should be delivered for trial. It was 
deemed best, therefore, that they should 
leave the Mediterranean for a season; 
and in March, 1803, by order of Com- 
modore Morris, Decatur was transferred 
to the frigate Chesapeake^ 36, which Cap- 
tain James Barron was ordered to take 
home, and he accordingly returned to 
the United States as a passenger. 

This bloodthirsty episode strikes us 
with horror at this day ; but it is due 
to the memory of Decatur to say that 
duels, especially among naval officers, 



20 stephe:s^ deoatue 

were extremely common at that time. 
Scarcely any naval officer of importance 
but had been ^^ouf several times^ and 
the list of officers of the early navy- 
shows many a name which bears after it 
the ominous words^ ^^ killed in a duel.'' 
Indeed^ I think that more of the officers 
were killed in duels than in aQtion with 
the enemy prior to the War of 1812; 
and it must not be forgotten that so 
noble and high-souled a man as Alex- 
ander Hamilton^ who comes very near 
being the greatest of Americans^ lost his 
life in a duel. 

' Decatur was regarded with no dis- 
favor by the authorities for this advent- 
ure, in which he certainly saved the 
life of BainbridgCj a young boy opposed 
,to a veteran duellist ; and after a lapse 
of time he actually enjoyed the friend- 
ship of that very Governor of Malta, one 
of Nelson's captains, to escape from 
whose insistence he had returned to the 
United States. At that governor's table 



STEPHEN DECATUE 21 

also contracted a friendsMp for 

.icridgCj wlio seems to have been 

iuch attracted by the young man. 

j'our months after his return home he 

yas given command of the brig Argons, 

18^ his first command. He was ordered 

to take the brig to the Mediterra- 

nean^, and, reporting to Commodore 

Preble, successor to Commodore Morris, 

transfer the Argus to Lieutenant Isaac 

Hull. Upon arriving at the station, he 

took command of the schooner Enter- 

prise, of twelve light guns. 

Preble ha^d received instructions to 
carry the war into Africa, and he em- 
ployed the winter months in making 
preparations for a vigorous attack when 
the mild spring weather permitted. On 
December 23, 1803, just after Decatur 
assumed command of her, the Enterprise 
captured the ketch Mastico, 4 guns and 
70 men, bearing a cargo of female slaves 
as a present to the Sultan of Turkey. 
The boat had an impressive history. She 



22 STEPHEIS^ DECATUR 

had been a French bomb-vessel, and was 
captured by the English at Aboukir and 
by them presented to the Tripolitans. 
The English, by the way, through the 
payment of a large tribute, backed up 
by a frowning force of ships and guns, 
enjoyed an immunity from the depreda- 
tions of the Barbary pirates which other 
powers did not have. Consequently, 
the bulk of the Mediterranean trade 
was carried in English bottoms. This 
probably expresses the reason for the ex- 
traordinary complaisance of the English 
toward these rovers. 

The fine frigate Philadelphia^ which 
had been first commanded by Decatur's 
father, the old commodore, and more 
recently by William Bainbridge, had 
been ordered to blockade Tripoli. 
While chasing hard in shore, she had 
run upon a rock. After having been 
lightened by the cutting away of her 
foremast and by throwing overboard 
her battery in a vain attempt to get her 



STEPHEN DECATUE 23 

off, she was captured by a swarm of Tri- 
politan gunboats on October 31. Her 
crew, comprising three hundred and 
fifteen officers and men, were of course 
made prisoners. The Tripolitans had 
afterward succeeded in floating the 
FMladel])hia, and, after raising and re- 
mounting her guns, had towed her into 
the harbor. This serious loss left Preble 
with only the Constitution and a few 
small brigs and schooners with which to 
carry on the war. The Tripolitans were 
busily engaged in refitting the frigate 
which the fortune of war, through no 
[fault of her captain, had thrown into 
their hands ; and the opening of the 
campaign would find the odds,' which 
iwere already heavily against the Ameri- 
cans, so seriously increased as to make 
.itheir position desperate. It became 
1 1 necessary, therefore, to recapture or 
rjdestroy the Philadelphia. 
i 1 When the American squadron sailed 
I bast the harbor early in December, she 



24 STEPHEN DECATUR 

was plainly visible under the Tripolitan 
flag — a bitter sight for our officers and 
men. Decatur had at once volunteered 
to cut her out with the Enterprise^ 
although she was not a suitable vessel 
for the purpose. His fortunate capt- 
ure of the Mastico, however, provided a 
boat which could be used. The design 
seems to have occurred simultaneously 
to several other American officers ; for 
there has rarely been under the Ameri- 
can flag a squadron in which the quality 
of the officers and men was so high as in 
that commanded by Preble, himself a 
most gallant and accomplished officer. 
It was the best possible school for the 
American E'avy ; and nearly every man 
who subsequently distinguished himself 
in the larger war with England had 
enjoyed ridh experience in the Mediter- 
ranean, and learned the rules of the grim 
game in the best way — by playing it. 
Decatur's claim received consideration 
from its priority ; and his appeal. 



stephe:n^ decatue 25 

seconded by a suggestive letter received 
from the captive Bainbridge, at last 
won an assent from Preble. Having 
given his consent, Preble laid his plans 
with characteristic provision^ as the fol- 
lowing order will show : 

United States Frigate '^ Constitution," 
^.^ Syracuse Harbor, January 31, 1804. 

You are hereby ordered to take com- 
mand of the prize ketch, which I have 
named the Intrepid, and prepare her 
with all possible despatch for a cruise of 
thirty-five days, with full allowance of 
water and provisions for seventy-five 
men. I shall send you five midshipmen 
from the Constitution, and you will take 
seventy men, including officers, from 
the Enterprise, if that number can be 
found ready to volunteer their services 
for boarding and burning the Fhiladel- 
pliia, in the harbor of Tripoli : if not, 
report to me, and I will furnish you 
with men to complete your comple- 



26 STEPHEN DECATUE 

ment. It is expected you will be ready 
to sail to-morrow evening, or some hours 
sooner, if the signal is ready for that 
purpose. 

It is my order that you proceed to 
Tripoli, in company with the Siren, 
Lieutenant Stewart, enter that harbor 
in the night, board the FMladelphia, 
burn her, and make good your retreat 
with the Intrepid, if possible, unless you 
can make her the means of destroying the 
enemy's vessels in the harbor, by con- 
verting her into a fire-ship for that pur- 
pose, and retreating in your boats, and 
those af the Siren. You must take fixed 
ammunition and apparatus for the frig- 
ate's eighteen-pounders ; and if you can, 
without risking too much, you may en- 
deavor to make them the instruments of 
destruction to the shipping and Bashaw's 
Castle. You will provide all the neces- 
sary combustibles for burning and de- 
stroying ships. The destruction of the 
FMladelphia is an object of great impor- 



STEPHE]Sr DECATUE 27 

tance^ and I rely with confidence on 
your intrepidity and enterprise to effect 
it. Lieutenant Stewart will support you 
with the boats of the Siren, and cover 
your retreat with that vessel. Be sure 
and set fire in the gun-room berths, 
cockpitj store-rooms forward, and berths 
on the berth- deck. 

After the ship is well on fire, point 
two of the eighteen-pounders, shotted, 
down the main hatch, and blow her 
bottom out. I enclose you a memo- 
randum of the articles, arms, ammuni- 
tion, and fireworks necessary and which 
you are to take with you. Eeturn to 
this place as soon as possible, and report 
to me your proceedings. On boarding 
the frigate, it is probable you may meet 
with resistance. It will be well, in 
order to prevent alarm, to carry all by 
the sword. May God prosper you in 
this enterprise. 

I have the honor to be. Sir, your obe- 
dient servant, Edward Peeble. 



1 



28 stephe:^ decatue 

Owing to stress of weather^ tlie Mas- 
ticOj now named the Intrepid^ did not set 
sail from Syracuse until February 3^ 
1804^ the order having been withheld 
until that date to preserve secrecy. In 
accordance with his orders^ Decatur had 
asked for volunteers from the Enterprise. 
Every living soul on the ship had clam- 
ored to be taken. The party, as finally 
made up, included all the lieutenants 
of the little schooner, — James Lawrence, 
Joseph Bainbridge, Jonathan Thorn, — 
Surgeon Heerman, and Midshipman Mac- 
Donough, late of the Philadelphia^ who 
had escaped capture through having 
been on detached service when she was 
lost, and Midshipmen Izard, Eowe, 
Lewis, Davis, and Charles Morris from 
the Constitution^ with a Sicilian pilot 
named Salvatore Catalino, and sixty- 
three seamen from the Enterprise. To 
these were added, subsequently. Midship- 
man Anderson and eight men from the 
Siren. Three days after their departure, 



STEPHEN DECATUE 29 

late in tlie afternoon, the Intrepid and 
the Siren appeared before Tripoli. 

The wind was rising and the sea 
breaking over the bar with such force 
that Morris and the pilots after recon- 
noitring, reported that the entrance was 
impracticable. The two vessels, there- 
fore, beat ont to sea under a tremen- 
dous gale, which lasted a week. The 
situation on the Intrepid was critical. 
There were no accommodations for the 
officers and men, the boat afforded no 
adequate shelter from the inclemency 
of the weather, and the provisions were 
spoiled, besides which the ship was in- 
fested with vermin. The hardest part 
of their adventure was during that week. 
At the end of the week, the gale having 
abated, the two vessels again made for 
the harbor, the Intrepid being in the 
lead. On the evening of February 16 
the Intrepid once more gained the en- 
trance. The arrangement had been for 
her to wait until dark for the boats of 



30 STEPHEIf DECATUE 

the Siren to support the attack ; but the 
Siren was some distance away, and Deca- 
tur was fearful that if he delayed he 
might lose the opportunity presented 
by a calm moonlight night and a fair 
breeze. So, without hesitation, he sent 
the Intrepid into the harbor. 

The captured Philadelphia lay at 
anchor and swinging to the wind well 
within the harbor. A comparison of 
force brings into high relief the daring 
of Decatur. The harbor and city of 
Tripoli were defended by the Bashaw's 
Castle and a number of scientifically 
constructed batteries, mounting in all 
over one hundred and fifteen heavy 
modern guns and numberless smaller 
pieces of ordnance, and garrisoned by 
twenty-five thousand soldiers. In addi- 
tion to the land fortifications, three 
smart cruisers (brigs or schooners), two 
large row-galleys, and nineteen gun- 
boats were moored in an irregular 
crescent-shaped formation, with the frig- 



STEPHEN DECATUE 31 

ate in the centre and the opening of 
the crescent turned toward the mouth 
of the harbor. To sum up, counting 
the batteries and crews of the naval 
force, in conjunction with the forts, 
there were on the side of the Tripolitans 
over two hundred heavy guns, twenty- 
five war- vessels, and nearly thirty thou- 
sand men, in positions of their own 
choosing. To oppose this force, Decatur 
had one small, fifty-ton bomb-ketch, 
filled with combustibles and manned 
with eighty-four men armed with cut- 
lasses ! No wonder the Tripolitans kept 
careless watch and negligent guard. A 
cutting- out expedition was the last thing 
they dreamed of. In the stupendous 
audacity of the attack lay its hope of 
success. 

As the Intrepid entered the mouth of 
the harbor, the fitful wind freshened ; 
a.nd, as it was still too early for attack, 
it became necessary to cast drags astern 
■jO diminish speed, for to shorten sail 



32 STEPHEN DECATUE 

would have attracted attention and 
awakened suspicion. Slowly, therefore, 
the little boat, with her dauntless cargo 
of daring tars, swept up the harbor. 
The shades of evening descended, lights 
appeared here and there in the shipping 
or in the town, battle-lanterns were 
kindled on the decks of the FMladelphia. 
Trumpet-calls, or the bells on the ships 
striking the hour, rang out over the still 
water, and were wafted by the sweet 
and gentle breeze into the strained ears 
of the American sailors. Presently the 
noises in the town died away. On the 
ships the anchor- watches were set, the 
guards posted on the walls, and the little 
world sank to rest in quiet slumber, soon 
to be rudely interrupted. 

It was striking five bells (half-past ten 
o'clock) when the Intrepid arrived 
within hailing distance of the FMla- 
delpMa. Decatur ordered the head of 
the ketch pointed for the frigate's bow, 
intending to lay his boat athwart the 



STEPHEN DECATUE 33 

ship and board thence. The men^ with 
the exception of the captain^ the pilot 
and a few seamen in Sicilian costume^ 
and a grim and grizzled veteran at the 
helm, were, by Decatur's orders, lying 
crouched down on the deck, concealed 
behind the low rail. 

What must have been their thoughts 
during the whole advance, and espe- 
cially during the last few moments ! 
Home, friends, mother, sweetheart, 
duty, God — God and their captain — 
passed through their minds in rapid suc- 
cession. Enforced inaction before a 
crisis is a supreme test of courage : to 
wait is harder than to do. Trembling 
hands tightened over nervous hearts, 
fingers gripped the hilt of trusty blades, 
breaths came shorter ; but, under the 
influence of an iron discipline, they 
looked to their young commander, stand- 
ing cool, composed, and ready by the 
wheel, and took new courage in silence. 
Not a sound was made. The men lay 



34 STEPHEN DECATUR 

motionless at their stations^ almost hear- 
ing their heart-beats as, ghostlike, they 
drifted in. 

The tension was broken by the sound 
of a sharp hail of interrogation from the 
frigate. Catalino answered that they 
were traders from Malta, who, having 
lost their anchors in the recent storm, 
wished to ride by the PMladelpMa (Le,, 
attach their boat to the frigate's cables) 
till the morning. 

This not unusual request was granted 
at once with a ready kindness soon to be 
ill-requited. But the Siren in the ofilng 
had awakened attention, and now be- 
came the subject of inquiry. The pilot 
— who, by Decatur's direction, contin- 
ued to amuse the few visible Tripolitans 
with sea gossip in the lingua Franca of 
the Mediterranean — informed them that 
she was the schooner Transfer, lately 
presented to the Bashaw by the British, 
and known to be off the coast and hourly 
expected, and suspicion was allayed. 



STEPHEJS" DECATUR 35 

At this moment the dying wind 
utterly failed them ; and they lay aback 
and motionless under the frowning 
muzzles of the heavy battery of the 
frigate, not twenty yards away. If they 
were recognized, they were lost ! The 
guns were double-shotted : one broad- 
side would have sunk them. With mar- 
vellous coolness Decatur calmly gave the 
orders necessary to extricate the Intrepid 
from her perilous position ; but, before 
they could be carried out, the ketch 
gathered steerageway again, and the 
Siren's boat, swinging astern, was 
manned, and sent to the ship carrying 
a line, which was made fast to the port 
sheet cable. The Tripolitans also sent a 
boat with a line from the stern of the 
Philadelphia; but with great presence 
of mind the American boat, under Mid- 
shipman Anderson, had intercepted the 
other, and, taking the line into their 
own boat, had made it fast to the first 
one, and, returning to the Intrepid^ 



36 stephe:n^ decatuk 

passed it inboard. The men, now lying 
on their backs, seized it without rising, 
and by lusty hauling breasted the ketch 
rapidly in toward the frigate. 

As the Intreind drew nearer, the 
Tripolitan commander saw in the moon- 
light that her anchors were hanging over 
her bows. Indignant at the deception, 
he directed the fasts cut and ordered her 
to sheer off. At the same instant and 
before he could be obeyed, the crowd of 
men on the decks of the ketch were dis- 
covered. The wild cry, ^^ Americanos ! 
Americanos ! ' ' rang out over the water. 
ITecessity for concealment being at an 
end, the men sprang to their feet and 
hauled away lustily. With another tre- 
mendous surge the ketch struck the 
broadside of the frigate. Grapnels were 
thrown at once. 

^^ Boarders away ! '' cried Decatur, all 
the repressed emotion of the moment 
finding vent in his voice. 

The captain and young Morris sprang 



STEPHEN DECATUE 37 

for the main chains. Midshipman Laws 
attempted to dash throngh an open port ; 
but Decatur's foot slipped, the pistol in 
Laws' s belt caught between the port sill 
and the gun muzzle, and Midshipman 
Charles Morris was the first American 
to stand on the deck of the FMladelphia, 
A moment after the captain and the 
rest, sword in hand, came pouring over 
the rail or through the gun-ports. In a 
twinkling a line was formed ; and the 
men, led by their officers, threw them- 
selves upon their startled enemy. 

All was confusion and alarm on the 
frigate. Her officers and men came 
rushing from below, only to be cut down 
before they realized what had happened. 
Eeputed among the best hand-to-hand 
fighters in the world, they could not 
brook the American onslaught; and 
after a brief resistance, in which over 
twenty were killed, they broke and fled. 
Most of them leaped overboard, to be 
drowned or killed by Anderson and the 



38 STEPHEN DECATUE 

Siren? s boat crew ; but many, hoping to 
evade notice, ran below, and concealed 
themselves in the dim recesses of the 
devoted ship, where a worse doom than 
death by water or steel awaited them. 
A similar and equally successful attack 
had been pressed home by Lawrence, 
Bainbridge, and MacDonough on the 
gun- deck and below. Only the watch- 
word ^^Philadelphia '' had prevented the 
Americans from attacking one another, 
so swift and easy had been their triumph. 
Within ten minutes Decatur captured 
the ship. Not an American had even 
been wounded ! 

To have brought out the frigate would 
have crowned their capture, and Decatur 
would have given all he possessed to 
have attempted it. Some officers have 
believed that he could have done so, but 
it is hard to see how. The foremast had 
not been replaced, the topmasts were 
housed, the yards were lying across the 
bulwarks, not a sail was bent. Besides, 
his orders were peremptory. 



STEPHEN DECATUE 39 

The combustibles on the ketch were 
passed on board ; and^ as Decatur reluc- 
tantly gave the commandj the different 
parties sprang to their appointed sta- 
tions, and, arranging the inflammable 
matter, applied the torch. So thor- 
oughly was the work done and so rapidly 
did the ship burn that those below were 
nearly cut off by the furious blaze. In 
less than thirty minutes the Philadelphia 
was on fire in every direction. 

The men now sprang back to the 
Intrepidj Decatur being the last to gain 
her decks. The bow-fast they hurriedly 
cut, grapnels were cast off, sweeps 
manned, and every endeavor made to 
get clear. But the Intrepid unaccount- 
ably clung to the frigate. The flames 
roared through the ports, broad sheets 
of fire played over the ketch. All 
the powder for the expedition, cov- 
ered only by a tarpaulin, was lying on 
the open deck, there being no magazine 
to receive it ; and sparks were already 



40 STEPHBI^ DECATUE 

falling on tlie tarred canvas. "What was 
the matter? Oh, the forgotten stern 
line was still fast ! Decatur and others 
sprang on the taffrail, heedless of dan- 
ger, and, with flame and smoke playing 
around them, hacked away at the line 
with their swords. "When it parted 
under the strain of the men tugging at 
the great oars, the Intrepid fairly leaped 
from the side of the frigate. A few 
strokes carried them a little farther 
away. Then they stopped rowing, and 
for the first time cheered like mad, with 
the pent-up feeling of the great half- 
hour of high endeavor thrilling in their 
Avild voices. 

The Tripolitans, too, had awakened to 
life. EoUing drums, wild cries and 
shouts, trumpet-calls and alarms came 
from the ships and forts and town. Sud- 
denly a flash of light leaped through the 
night, the deep boom of a heavy gun re- 
verberated over the water : one of the 
FMladelpMa^s main batteries, discharged 



STEPHEN DECATUE 41 

by the intense heat, had sent a mes- 
senger of death into the city. As if that 
were a signal, the forts, batteries and 
shipping opened a tremendous can- 
nonade on the Intrepid, Seizing the 
oars again the men fled from the har- 
bor. They were in different spirits from 
those of a few honrs before : they had 
been tried in as desperate an under- 
taking as ever fell to the lot of men 
and they had conquered. Bullets, solid 
shot, shell, grape screamed and sang 
about them and tore the water into jets 
of foam on either side ; but none harmed 
them, though they presented a fair tar- 
get, for the burning frigate behind them 
made the harbor as light as day. 

A beautiful, if melancholy picture 
was presented by the great ship. Dry 
as tinder from her long tropic cruise, she 
burned like paper : her sides were broad 
sheets of flame, each mast and spar was 
outlined in a fire column with a rosy 
capital of wavering and mysterious 



42 STEPHE:sr DECATUE 

beauty. Her heated guns went oflf in 
rapid succession until finally her cables 
parted and she drifted toward the shore. 
When just before the castle she blew up 
with a stunning explosion^ which rent 
the heaven and surfaced the sky with 
fire. A moment of appalling silence, 
of deep darkness, supervened. It was 
broken by the crash of the batteries re- 
suming the futile cannonade. 

But the little Intrepid was beyond 
reach now. As the roar of the guns 
died away she disappeared in the dark- 
ness of the night overshadowing the har- 
bor. The moon had set. The wind rose. 
The watchers on the Sirenj who had lost 
sight of the ketch, waited with beating 
hearts, eagerly scanning the sea. Their 
burning anxiety was relieved when a 
boat, their own, dashed alongside, and 
the manly figure of Decatur, clad in the 
rough jacket of a sailor, grimed and 
stained with battle-smoke, sprang on 
board, triumphantly announcing their 
safe return. 



STEPHEN DECATUE 43 

Every writer who has told this tale of 
consurainate gallantry has dwelt lov- 
ingly on a comment reported to have 
been made by Lord Nelson, then engaged 
in that magnificent blockade of Toulon 
with his fleet. The great captain is al- 
leged to have characterized the exploit 
as ^^the most bold and daring act of the 
age.'' I am unable to find authority 
for the statement ; but, inasmuch as it is 
essentially true and what if elson might 
properly have said, if he said anything, 
it is here set down as a just summary of 
the heroic undertaking. 

Two days later, on February 18, the 
Intrepid and the Siren reached Syracuse, 
when, after rex3orting his success to the 
astonished and delighted Preble, De- 
catur resumed command of the Enter- 
prise. Preble immediately despatched 
an official report to the navy depart- 
ment, detailing the successful undertak- 
ing in glowing terms, and recommending 
that Decatur be ]3romoted to a cap- 



44 STEPHEJ^r DECATUE 

taincy. That this recommendation was 
made with the hearty concurrence of all 
the officers senior to him in rank, whose 
station would be affected by his promo- 
tion, speaks volumes for the estimation 
in which Decatur was held by those who 
knew him best. 



ni. 

The intervening time having been 
spent by Preble in careful preparation, 
he set sail the latter part of July, 1804, 
in the Constitution, accompanied by his 
brigs and schooners, together with six 
gunboats and two bombards, which, with 
about one hundred N^eapolitans, had been 
added to his force by the King of the 
Two Sicilies, who was also nominally at 
war with Tripoli. As usual, the attack- 
ing force met with heavy weather off the 
harbor of Tripoli. The gunboats, which 
were small, flat-bottomed vessels of about 
twenty-five tons' burthen, each carry- 
ing one long twenty-four pounder and 
manned by forty men, were very unsea- 
worthy. They were in tow of the Con- 
stitution and larger vessels, and in the 
violent storm were almost swamped ; 
but, through the tenacity of the Ameri- 
can sailors and the exercise of good sea- 
manship, none of them were lost. 



46 STEPHEN DECATUE 

On the morning of August 3, the 
gale having somewhat abated^ the first 
attack was delivered. The Tripolitan 
gunboats were massed in two divisions 
of nine each^ supported by the cruisers 
and batteries. To assault these, Preble 
divided his gunboats in two divisions of 
three each, one of which was com- 
manded by Somers and the other by 
Decatur. With Decatur were MacDon- 
ough and Thorn. The boat following 
Decatur was commanded by Sailing- 
master John Trippe with Midshipman 
Henly. The last boat was commanded 
by Joseph Bainbridge. 

The sea was running heavily outside 
the harbor, and the wind blew in such 
a direction as to make it difficult to 
clear the entrance. Decatur's division, 
being to windward, succeeded through 
close watching in making the harbor ,- 
the division under Somers, unfortu- 
nately placed, was not able to weather 
the point and had to go about. The 



STEPHEN DECATUR 47 

Tripolitans began firing at once from 
the forts and shipping^ and a shot carry- 
ing away the yard of Bainbridge's boat 
put it permanently out of action that 
day, to the great chagrin of its young 
commander. Its place was taken, how- 
ever, by a very weatherly vessel of 
Somers's division, which, under the com- 
mand of Decatur's brother James, had 
managed to eat her way up to wind- 
ward, and join Decatur's division. 
Somers, with great gallantry, attacked 
with his single gunboat the western 
division of the Tripolitans, and, sup- 
ported by his remaining boat, main- 
tained his position of great peril until 
extricated by the ships of the squadron 
which were now all hotly engaged. 

At this juncture Preble would fain 
have recalled his gunboats, but it was 
found that no signal for retreat had been 
agreed upon. In any case, Decatur, 
half expecting a command to retire, 
resolutely kept his back turned to the 



48 STEPHEN DECATUE 

Constitution, Meanwhile his division 
dashed at the Tripolitans. They were 
received by a fierce fire from the gun- 
boats and their auxiliaries, which cut 
the water in every direction about them, 
but did no material damage. The fire 
was returned by the Americans. De- 
catur had loaded the long gun in the 
bow with a thousand musket-balls, which 
were despatched at close range into the 
mass of the Mahometans, doing great 
execution. In the confusion the Ameri- 
cans darted upon the nearest gunboats. 
As with the FMladelpliia, Decatur had 
determined to carry things by boarding, 
and to that end had previously housed 
his bowsprit, and ordered the other gun- 
boats to follow his example. The Tri- 
I)olitans, numbering nearly fifty men, 
made a frantic resistance ; but Decatur 
and his men would not be denied. The 
twenty-three Americans, led by their 
captain, poured over the bow, leaving 
the twelve l^eapolitans to man the gun- 



STEPHEN DECATUE SI 

boat. After a brief melee forward witli 
cutlass, pike, and boarding-axe against 
scimitar and lance, tlie Tripolitans were 
driven to the stern, where they rallied. 
A wide-open hatchway amidships sepa- 
rated the two parties. Discharging 
their pistols without a moment's hesita- 
tion, Decatur and his men dashed along 
the narrow gangway on one side, Mac- 
Donough and Thorn emulated his attack 
on the other, and in a short time the 
gunboat was captured. The Tripoli- 
tans lost heavily in killed and wounded. 
Eight men were taken prisoners, and 
the remainder escaped overboard. De- 
catur took his prize in tow, and, seeing 
the other Tripolitans fleeing, prepared 
to return to the Constitution. 

Meanwhile the other gunboats had not 
been idle. Sailing-master John Trippe 
made for the largest of the enemy's 
boats which happened to be nearest 
him. The boats exchanged shots as they 
approached each other, then Trippe and 



4.^ STEPHEK DECATUE 

Henly and nine men boarded the Tri- 
politan. Before the rest of the crew 
could follow the wash of the sea sepa- 
rated the two boats ; and Trippe and 
his men found themselves face to face 
with five times their number of the 
enemy. Instant offence was their only 
safety. Without a moment's hesitation 
the Americans dashed at their antago- 
nists^ and a conflict of the fiercest descrip- 
tion ensued. Trippe singled out the 
Tripolitan commander^ and engaged him 
in a hand-to-hand fight. The Mahome- 
tan was a gigantic man^ and accustomed 
to this method of fighting. In the battle 
that ensued he wounded Trippe no less 
than eleven timeS; finally breaking his 
sword and beating him to his knees. 
While in that position and before he 
could be cut down by the man^ the gal- 
lant American^ who was a small^ slender 
man^ seized a half-pike from the deck, 
and by a desperate upward thrust im- 
paled his huge antagonist just as Marine 



STEPHE:N" DECATUR 51 

Sergeant Meredith^ by a vicious bayonet 
thrust, pinned to the mast another cor- 
sair who was about to finish the Ameri- 
can. With the death of their leader, 
resistance ceased ; and those of the Tri- 
politans who were able to do so leaped 
overboard, and fled. Eleven Americans 
had actually killed fourteen Tripolitans, 
— they had struck to kill, evidently,-— 
severely wounded seven and captured 
twenty-two! Trippe's gunboat now 
came up again and took the prize in 
tow. 

The third gunboat, under Decatur's 
brother James, had engaged as gallantly 
as the other two. Eanging alongside a 
Tripolitan, after a discharge of musket- 
balls from the long gun, he poured in a 
heavy pistol fire, when the fiag of the 
corsair was struck. Her commander 
determined to effect his escape by 
treachery, despairing of the result of 
open fighting. Therefore, when the un- 
suspicious American, followed by some 



52 STEPHEI^ DECATUE 

of his crewj clambered up to take pos- 
session of the surrendered boat, the Tri- 
politan commander fired his pistol at 
young Decatur's head, and he fell back 
senseless in his boat. Before the Amer- 
icans could recover from this treachery, 
the Tripolitans had thrown out their 
sweeps, and under sails and oars went 
flying up the harbor. 

Decatur, with his prize in tow, now 
ranged alongside his brother's boat. 
Learning of the treacherous murder, he 
immediately cast off his prize, leaving 
Thorn and a half-dozen men in charge, 
set sail, sent his crew to the oars, and 
went after the fleeing Trij)olitan with 
the grim word ^^ revenge" beating in 
his heart. The uncaptured gunboats of 
the enemy were flying in every direc- 
tion, i)ursued by the shot of the war- 
ships at the mouth of the harbor, which 
sunk three by the way, and cleared the 
decks of several more. A well- aimed 
discharge from the long gun in the bow 



STEPHEI^ DECATUE 53 

of Decatur's boat threw the Tripolitans 
into confusion, and even under the in- 
spiration of their dire terror at the dis- 
covered treachery they were unable to 
distance their relentless pursuers. 

Decatur smashed into the Tripolitan ; 
and, amid a discharge of pistols and 
musketry, the Americans, comprising 
himself, MacDonough, and nine men, 
boarded and engaged sharply. Sword 
in hand, Decatur sprang at the Tripoli- 
tan leader, who, like the man with 
whom Trippe had engaged, was of Her- 
culean build — much larger than De- 
catur. The corsair thrust viciously at 
him with his espontoon ; but Decatur 
parried the blow and attempted to cut 
off the head of the lance by striking the 
wooden shaft. But the blow fell on the 
iron head and the cutlass broke short 
off at the hilt. Decatur thrust at the 
man's face, and sprang toward him ; but, 
before he could close, the Turk gave him 
another thrust, which wounded him in 



54 stephe:n' dbcatue 

the arm and side. In the next second 
the men clasped in a deadly death- 
grapple. Over the decks they rolled, 
among the struggling men ; for the 
Americans had joined battle with the 
pirates in the same spirit as their leader. 
Presently Decatur's foot slipped j and he 
fell in the midst of the mass of struggling 
men, the Tripolitan on top of him. The 
Turk seized him by the throat with his 
left hand, while with the right he drew 
a short, pointed knife from his sash and 
lifted it in the air to stab the American. 
With a violent effort, Decatur caught 
the descending right arm with his own 
left hand, straining him so closely to his 
breast that he could not strike ; and, 
drawing a small pistol from his pocket, 
he reached his right arm along back of 
the Tripolitan, and pointed his weapon 
at a vital spot. Eegardless of the fact 
that the bullet might wound him af- 
ter passing through the Tripolitan, he 
pulled the trigger. The man immedi- 



STEPHEN DECATUR 55 

ately fell dead upon him, the yataghan 
dropping from his nerveless grasp. 

As Decatur rolled him off and strug- 
gled to his feet; another Tripolitan made 
a vicious cut at his unprotected body 
with a scimitar. It shows the love in 
which Decatur was held by his men and 
exemplifies the heroic quality of Ameri- 
can seamen to learn that a humble sailor 
named Eeuben James, though both of 
his arms had been rendered useless by 
wounds received in this struggle, saw 
the descending blow, sprang between 
the sword and his captain, and received 
the stroke in his own head, while one 
of the other men immediately cut down 
the Tripolitan. James, though badly 
wounded, recovered, and remained with 
Decatur throughout his whole career. 

This ended the resistance. The das- 
tardly treachery which had taken the life 
of his beloved brother was avenged, but 
his triumph in the capture of these boats 
in this hand-to-hand conflict was sadly 



56 STEPHEI^ DECATTJE 

dimmed by the murder of the bright 
and brilliant lad he had cherished. 

In the two boats captured by Decatur, 
thirty-three officers and men had been 
killed, nineteen were badly wounded, 
and eight had been taken prisoners. 
No one had been captured on the second 
boat. An unknown number had sought 
safety in flight overboard. The total 
loss of the Americans was one killed 
(Decatur's brother James) and thirteen 
wounded. The Tripolitans never after 
ventured upon a hand-to-hand fight. 

It was a melancholy procession which, 
with its three prizes, gained the Constitu- 
tion. Commodore Preble sent his own 
barge to bring the dying officer to the 
ship. Young Decatur died on the way. 
He was buried the next morning from 
the gangway of the Constitution, and 
sleeps beneath the blue of the Mediter- 
ranean. ^^I would rather,'' said De- 
catur sadly to young Charles Morris, as 
they stood together looking at the face 



STEPHEN DECATUE 57 

of their dead brother and friend, ^^see 
him thus than living with any cloud on 
his conduct." In the light of this mel- 
ancholy ending of a young life full of 
promise we can understand the meaning 
of the Spartan words spoken at a later 
day by the old commodore in Phila- 
delphia : ^^Our children, they are the 
property of their country." 

This fight has been called the ^^ biggest 
little fight ' ' in history, and the name is 
well chosen. What Preble thought of 
Decatur's conduct is indicated in the 
following order : — 

The commodore deeply regrets the death of 
the brave Lieutenant James Decatur, who 
nobly fell at the moment he had obliged an 
enemy of superior force to strike to him. 

The very distinguished judgment and intre- 
pidity of Captain Decatur in leading his division 
of gunboats into action, in boarding, capturing, 
and bringing out from under the enemy's bat- 
teries two of their gunboats, each of superior 
force, is particularly gratifying to the commo- 
dore ; and Captain Decatur will please to accept 
his thanks. 



58 STEPHEN DECATUR 

During tlie remainder of tlie summer, 
Decatur saw mucli service. On August 
7 he and Somers commanded tlie gun- 
boats in the second attack on the bat- 
teries of Tripoli, and on that day he 
received his commission as captain, then 
the highest attainable rank in the United 
States Is^avy, dated May 22, 1804, and 
taking effect from February 16, the date 
of the destruction of the Philadelphia. 
At the same time, the rank of master 
commandant having been revived, many 
of the other officers were deservedly 
promoted. They all rejoiced in De- 
catur's advancement. There was no 
jealousy in the little squadron ; and, like 
Nelson, Preble commanded a band of 
brothers. On his departure for the 
United States, he recorded with pride 
that during his tour of duty there had 
been neither a duel nor a court-martial 
in the squadron. With conspicuous 
gallantry and efficiency, Decatur and 
Somers led the gunboats in the subse- 



stephe:n^ decatue 59 

quent attacks on Tripoli on August 24 
and 28 and September 3^ which put an 
end to campaigning for the season. 

When Preble was relieved by Commo- 
dore Barron, his senior in rank, with 
large re-enforcements of frigates,^ sloops- 
of-war, and gunboats, he turned over 
the command of the great Constitu- 
tion to Decatui', the youngest captain in 
the service. Think of it ! Captain of 
the Constitution at the age of twenty- 
five ! 

After retaining command of this great 
ship until the opening of the year 1805, 
just before the termination of the war, 
which, barring negotiations, had been 
practically settled by Preble, Decatur 
was transferred to the Congress, 36, 
and sailed for home, taking a Tunisian 
envoy with him. The ship stopped 
at l^orfolk ; and there the young captain 
had the good fortune to meet Miss 
Susan Wheeler, the beautiful and ac- 
complished daughter of the mayor of 



60 STEPHEN DECATUE 

that city. EeacMng Philadelpliia, De- 
catur was everywhere received with en- 
thusiasm. Congress^ which had already 
honored Preble by a medal and sword, 
voted a sword to Decatur ; and many 
banquets and receptions were given in 
his honor. 

The naval authorities, with the cruel 
and criminal policy of those days, im- 
mediately reduced the navy when peace 
was declared ; but Decatur, of course, 
was retained in the service. On March 
8, 1806, he married Miss Wheeler. The 
union, though it was not blessed with 
children, proved one of the happiest on 
record. Decatur was soon employed 
in superintending the building of the 
wretched gunboats which, it was confi- 
dently hoped — by those who knew little 
about it — would take the place of 
the regularly equipped ships -of- war. 
He was afterward stationed at Newport, 
and still later he commanded the Navy 
Yard at Norfolk. In 1808 he was as- 



STEPHEN DEOATUE 61 

signed to the frigate Chesapeake, 36, in 
command of the Southern station, in 
succession to Commodore Barron, who 
had been suspended for five years for 
unpreparedness for action when the 
British frigate Leopard forcibly took 
from his vessel three alleged deserters. 
In 1810 he shifted his flag to the famous 
frigate United States, which was still un- 
der his command when the War of 1812 
broke out. During the long period of 
peace he had applied himself assiduously 
to study, not only in matters connected 
with the technicalities of his intricate 
profession, but in many other depart- 
ments of polite learning as well, so that 
he became, through his perseverance 
and natural aptitude, one of the most 
cultivated and accomplished gentlemen 
of his time. 



IV. 

The failure of the British, government 
to observe the terms of its treaty with 
this country^ the pernicious effect upon 
our commerce of their Orders in Coun- 
cil^ but; most of all; the arrogance of 
the British Navy on the sea^ ^^the right 
of search/' the utterly unreasonable 
character of their claims of dominion, 
their repeated seizure of men — Ameri- 
can citizens at that — from the decks of 
our ships on the plea that they were 
British subjects^ their entire disregard 
of our flagj and their open contempt for 
America and Americans finally led to 
a declaration of war on June 18, 1812. 
On June 21 the squadron of American 
ships, under the command of Commodore 
Eodgers — to which the United States, 
still commanded by Decatur, had been 
attached — got to sea. After a cruise in 
which they chased the Belvidera, capt- 
ured a number of merchant- vessels^ but 



STEPHEN DECATUE 63 

effected notMng else of consequence, 
they returned to the United States, 
and on October 8 set sail for a sec- 
ond cruise. When four days out, the 
United States and the Argus parted com- 
pany with the rest of the squadron ; 
and a few days later the frigate sep- 
arated from the brig, and pursued her 
cruise alone. 

With characteristic boldness, Decatur 
headed eastward for the frequented 
waters of Europe. On the morning of 
Sunday, October 25, 1812, at sunrise, 
the American ship, then being in lati- 
tude 29^ N., longitude 29^ 30' W., 
sighted a sail forward and to windward 
about a dozen miles distant, on the op- 
posite tack. The morning was bright 
and clear, and the breeze steady and 
strong. Sail was at once made in pur- 
suit of the stranger, who seemed in no 
wise inclined to avoid an interview, as 
her course was changed and she ran off 
free, and came lasking down toward the 



64 STEPHEI^ DEOATUE 

American. In spite of the fresli breeze, 
studding-sails were set on both, ships, 
so that the distance between them was 
rapidly diminished. When they had 
drawn sufficiently near, it was apparent 
to each that the other was a heavy 
ship -of- war. Strenuous efforts were 
made by both commanders to gain, 
or keep, the weather-gauge, at present 
enjoyed by the English ship. But the 
utmost skill on the part of the Amer- 
ican commander, and the brilliant way 
in which his crew carried out his or- 
ders and put the ship through evolu- 
tion after evolution to that end, did 
not avail to wrest the initial superi- 
ority of position from the British vessel, 
which proved herself a much faster and 
more weatherly boat than the United 
States, The masterly manner in which 
the American ship was handled awak- 
ened the highest admiration on the 
part of the English officers and of those 
older sailors who could be counted 



STEPHEN DECATTJE 65 

upon to know a seaman when they saw 
one.^ 

For the last fi^^e years she had been 
under Decatur's continuous command. 
Many of his officers and men had been 
with him for the whole of that period^ 
and some of them had even been asso- 
ciated with him in the Tripolitan 
cruises. Captain^ officers, and men 
knew each other thoroughly ; and they 
knew the ship as well. They had 
worked and drilled together until every- 
thing went like clock-work. Particular 
attention, as events will show, had been 
paM to gunnery. 

The Macedonian^ which was the name 

* The United States, subsequently reputed one 
of the fastest ships in the world, was at that 
time not remarkable for speed, and was consid- 
ered one of the slowest of American frigates. 
A singular accident some years afterward de- 
termined her sailing qualities. Through care- 
lessness and oversight, on one occasion, she left 
port very much down by the head. Before the 
crew could shift the ballast, it came on to blow 
severely, whereupon she developed sailing qual- 



66 STEPHEN DECATUE 

of ttie sMp rapidly swooping down on 
tliem^ was a magnificent modern English 
frigate. She was scarcely two years old, 
and had recently come ont of dry dock. 
All the improvements that the science 
and experience of the time conld sug- 
gest had been applied to perfect her 
offensive qualities ; and, remarkable to 
state, her guns were provided even with 
locks. She had been ably commanded 
by a succession of distinguished officers ; 
and, by actual practice in many severe 
actions and much hard cruising since 
she had been launched, her crew had 
learned the rules of the game they 
essayed to play. Her first lieutenant 

ities wliicli absolutely astonished her officers 
and men. The accidental trim, though it did 
not add to her beauty, was found to work so 
well in actual cruising that it was ever after- 
ward maintained. She became so fast and 
so reliable, under this new arrangement of 
weights, that for years afterward she was known 
as the "Old Wagoner.'* It is of her that Her- 
man Melville wrote his famous book called 
WMte Jacket ; o?% Life on a Maii-of-ioar. 



STEPHEN DECATUE 67 

states that they were continually prac- 
tised in gunnery. She was now com- 
manded by Captain James Surman Car- 
den, who by his merit and bravery 
had made his way upward in the ser- 
g»-:ice in the face of the official disfavor 
S^f the king, whom he had unwittingly 
ffended in early youth — or his mother 
ad for him. He had seen service con- 
inually from a much earlier period than 
lad Decatur, to whom he was senior in 
e by eight years, and had been pro- 
oted repeatedly for distinguished gal- 
lantry in action. He was a commander 
om whom much was expected. 
There was a great difference in the 
men of the two ships. The crew of the 
^.United States idolized Decatur, although 
he was a stern and strict disciplinarian, 
L doing all that was necessary to promote 
I the efficiency of his shixD. The crew 
iof the Macedonian loathed and hated 
Carden and his brutal first lieutenant, 
Hope, — singular misnomer! The ship 



6S STEPHEN DECATUE 

was a floating hell. Scarcely a day- 
passed but some one was sent to the 
gratings and flogged. A year before 
the action one man had received three 
hundred lashes with the cat-o'-nine- 
tails on suspicion of stealing a handker- 
chief, the charge not being proven. So 
far from being revolted by these brutal 
punishments, officers and men, who were 
at first sickened and horrified when they 
witnessed them, grew indifferent, and 
finally acquired a morbid craving for 
the sight. Some captains, and among 
them a predecessor of Garden on the 
Macedonian, actually sought out charges 
upon which the men could be punished, 
in order to keep up discipline in the 
crew. That the British sailors fought as 
they did is a surprise. 

To return to the two ships. They 
were rapidly approaching each other on 
different tacks, the wind blowing from 
the S. S. E., with the Macedonian the 
southermost and windward ship. Every 



STEPHEN DECATUE 69 

preparation on both vessels had. been 
made for action. In order to make as- 
surance double sure, Garden set a pri- 
vate signal, whereupon the stars and 
stripes immediately broke out on the 
American from the main and mizzen- 
mast head and gaff, the jack being set at 
the fore. There were seven American 
seamen on the Macedonian who had been 
pressed in the British service. Although 
rumors had reached them, they had been 
carefully kept in ignorance of the actual 
fact that war had been declared between 
their country and England. The sight 
of the flags flying on the stranger con- 
firmed their suspicions, and informed 
them of the true state of affairs. Headed 
by one John Card, reputed to have 
been as brave a seaman as ever trod 
a deck, they marched aft to the mast, 
and requested to speak to the cap- 
Lain. Card, as spokesman, called atten- 
ion to their situation, and expressed 
"jheir reluctance to fight against their 



70 STEPHEN DECATUE 

own countrymen. They offered to yield 
themselves prisoners of war, and asked 
to be sent below. Garden^ who had 
heard them with lowering brow^ sternly 
ordered them forward to their stations, 
peremptorily cut short their remon- 
strances, and instructed their of&cers 
and the marine guards to shoot down 
the first man who left his gun. 

At 9.20 in the morning a long tongue 
of flame leaped from the side of the 
Macedonian^ and a booming roar came 
down the wind toward the Americans. 
Several other guns followed in quick suc- 
cession, but the shot fell short. The 
United States held on in grim silence. 
An incident which occurred on her at 
this moment is worthy of mention. 
John Creamer, a boy of ten years, the 
son of a seaman who had died on the 
cruise, came to the mast, and spoke to the 
captain. He wished to have his name 
put on the muster-roll. And, when 
Decatur asked him why, he remarked, 



STBPHE]^ DECATUE 71 

with boyish audacity — and his words 
must have been too much even for the 
gravity of the occasion and the discipline 
of the man-of-war — that he wanted to 
be mustered, so that he could draw his 
share of the prize-money ! His name 
was put down. After the action, Deca- 
tur procured him a midshipman^ s war- 
rant. 

At 9.45 A.M. the United States opened 
fire, to which the Macedonian responded, 
the distance between the two ships pass- 
ing on different tacks being then about 
one mile. At ten o'clock, Captain Car- 
den wore ship, and ran along parallel to 
Decatur, who was slowly eating his 
way up to windward to close with his 
antagonist. The two ships ran along 
side by side within easy range, firing 
continually. Carden, thinking he had 
to do with the EsseXy a smaller frigate 
than his own, and armed with short 
guns, chose to play at long bowls, giv- 
ing a tremendous advantage to Decatur, 



72 STEPHEN DECATUE 

whose frigate was armed witli twenty- 
fours as opposed to Garden's eighteens. 
The American was not slow to avail 
himself of the situation. 

The fire from the main deck's guns of 
the United States was simply dreadful. 
So rapid were the discharges that it 
seemed to Garden and his officers that 
she was on fire ; yet the rapidity did not 
prevent accuracy, for the heavy bolts 
from the long guns played havoc with 
the British frigate. First her mizzen- 
topmast was carried away and fell for- 
ward with all its heavy hamper into the 
maintop, hanging suspended over the 
heads of the crew, and for a time render- 
ing the main braces useless. Presently 
the maintopgallantmast and the fore- 
topmast followed suit. 

The men on the Macedonian were 
fighting with great spirit, however, yell- . 
ing and cheering continuously ; but the 
carnage was frightful. The slaughter 
was so great that it became necessary 



STEPHEN DECATUE 73 

to throw overboard the killed and those 
who were so badly wounded as to be 
beyond human aid. One of the powder- 
boys had all the flesh torn off his face 
by the explosion of a cartridge he was 
carrying ; and^ as he lifted his hands to 
heaven in piteous agony, a cannon-shot 
cut him in two. Another man had his 
hand taken off by a shot, and, before he 
realized his wound, a second bullet tore 
open his bowels in a horrible manner. 
He was caught as he fell, and was thrown 
overboard. The boatswain, who had 
been ill, but who had gallantly left the 
sick-bay and gone to quarters, while 
attempting to stopper a backstay, was 
struck in the head, and instantly killed. 
The sailing-master was frightfully 
wounded ; the cabin-steward and the 
schoolmaster were killed. One of the 
quartermasters, who was exceedingly 
popular with the men, was struck in the 
heart by a grape-shot, and died in- 
stantly. The tyrannical first lieutenant 



74 STEPHEl^ DEOATUE 

was wounded, and, after having his 
wound dressed, returned to his station, 
where he pluckily remained, though 
wounded a second time. The men on 
the ship were sorry he was not killed. 
The slaughter among the powder-boys 
was dreadful. The decks were covered 
with blood, and bits of torn humanity 
were interwoven with splintered wood 
on every hand. The stream of wounded 
carried below was so great that the cock- 
pit was soon filled to overflowing, and 
the shattered men had to be taken into 
the ward-room. There was no time for 
delicate surgery, and the surgeon and his 
mates worked like butchers. Men were 
thrown upon the table, held down, and 
legs and arms hacked off with desperate 
speed. Still the men fought on. The 
punishment was so frightful that Garden, 
now fully alive to the fact that he had 
made a mistake in not closing, endeav- 
ored at last to do so ; but, though he had 
the will, he found he now lacked the 



STEPHEN DECATUE 75 

power. His mainyard was cut away, 
and was hanging in two pieces. The 
mizzenmast was gone. The maintop- 
mast had been cut off above the cap, 
the foretopmast was gone, the jib-boom 
was hanging by a single stay. Notwith- 
standing, the helm was shifted ; and un- 
der the foresail alone, the only canvas 
left) her, the doomed Macedonian slowly 
sailed down to the American frigate. 
Garden at the same time calling away 
his boarders in anticipation of the colli- 
sion. They actually responded with 
cheers. A braver crew never fought 
a ship. 

On the United States things had gone 
beautifully. The Americans still kept 
pouring in their merciless fire, firing 
about twice as fast as the British. Decatur 
walked through the batteries himself 
from time to time, and, as he saw the 
plight of the hapless English, directed 
his gun- captains to aim at the yellow 
streak on the ship's side, saying they 



76 STEPHEN DECATUE 

needed a little more hulling. In spite 
of the strong breeze, his ship was soon 
so clouded by her own smoke from the 
rapidity of her fire that Decatur gave 
orders to stop firing^ — an action which 
seems to have greatly cheered the des- 
perate English. As the smoke cleared 
away, Decatur was astonished to see the 
remains of the Macedonian boldly head- 
ing for him ; but he calmly backed his 
maintopsailj having furled his mizzen- 
topsail, owing to the loss of the mizzen- 
topgallantmast early in the action, and 
poured in a tremendous raking fire. 
Again and again Garden luffed, returned 
the broadside, and ran off to work him- 
self nearer, while Decatur slowly forged 
ahead to keep his relative position and 
repeat his fire ; and thus for fifteen 
minutes longer the battle went on. 
Nearly every gun on the forecastle and 
quarter-deck of the Englishman was 
dismounted or put out of action. Sev- 
eral of the main- deck guns were in 



STEPHE:Nr DECATUE 77 

a similar bad case. The foresail, the 
last hope of the Macedonian^ was soon 
cut to ribbons 5 and she slowly swung 
about, broached to, and lay rolling, a 
helpless, beaten wreck, in the tossing 
sea. 

Decatur now filled away, crossing the 
Macedonian'' s bow, mercifully holding his 
fire when he might have raked the 
English ship terribly at short range, 
luffed up to windward, and ran out 
of action, at which the poor British, 
imagining another frigate had appeared 
or that something unexpected had 
happened, gave three cheers and set an 
ensign in the main rigging, all the others 
having been shot away. But Decatur, 
in accordance with a common practice 
of American commanders, seeing the 
state of the enemy's ship, and knowing 
the battle was virtually over, had only 
run off a little to take account of dam- 
ages, rereeve gear, and fill more powder 
cartridges, which his rapid firing had 



78 STEPHEN DECATUE 

exhausted. In a short time the TJniteSi 
States, practically uninjured, tacked 
about, and ran down under the stern of 
the Macedonian. A summons to surren- 
der followed. The game was up. The 
poor little bravado bit of color in the 
main rigging was hauled down, and the 
battle was over. It was a little after 
eleven o'clock. 

The captains and crews of the two 
ships were not unknown to each other. 
A few months before the war the Mace- 
donian had been at If orfolk, and there 
had been much visiting among the officers 
and men. Of course, the relative merits 
of their respective frigates had been a 
subject of much discussion. Garden is 
reported to have closed a friendly con- 
versation with the following remark: 
^^ Besides, Decatur, though your ships 
may be good enough and you are a 
clever set of fellows, what practice have 
you had in war'? There is the rub!'' 
He little dreamed that the required 



STEPHEN DECATUE 79 

^^ practice'' was so soon to be gained 
from Mm. 

As all the English boats except the 
small one astern had been smashed to 
pieces by the American fire^ Garden was 
brought on board the United States in 
one of her cutters. Decatur met him at 
the gangway. As Garden proffered his 
sword to Decatur, he returned it with 
the magnanimous reply , ^^Sir, I can- 
not receive the sword of a man who has 
so bravely defended his ship.'' 

Garden, who had not heard of the cap- 
ture of the Gtterriere by the Constitution^ 
and who imagined that his was the first 
English ship to strike, was dreadfully 
humiliated at the situation. On the 
Macedonian, one hundred and four had 
been killed and wounded. Of the 
wounded, only fifteen recovered, mak- 
ing a total of eighty-nine killed. In this 
number were two Americans, Gard and 
one other of his countrymen. On the 
United States five Americans were killed 



80 STEPHEN DECATUE 

and seven wounded^ including Lieuten- 
ant Funk and anotlier wounded man, 
both of whom died after the battle. 

A comparison of force is very much 
in favor of the Americans. The United 
States carried 54 guns to 49 on the Mace- 
donian. The weight of broadside of the 
United States was 787 pounds to 555 of 
the Macedonian. The crew of the United 
States numbered 478, that of the Macedo- 
nian 297. The long twenty-fours on the 
main deck of the American frigate were 
much superior to the eighteen-pounders 
on the Macedonian, although the English 
officers had deliberately chosen to arm 
their frigates with eighteen-pounders, de- 
claring that they were much more ser- 
viceable and useful than the larger guns 
of the Americans. This admitted dis- 
]3arity in force in no wise detracts from 
the brilliancy of the victory. Since 
boarding was not resorted to in the ac- 
tion, the superiority in the number of 
men on the part of the Americans cut no 



STEPHEN DECATUR 81 

particular figure. Eacli side liad enough 
men to work its guns efficiently. And 
the difference in force between the two 
ships might be stated in the ratio of seven 
to five, whereas the difference in fighting 
quality, taking the number of killed and 
wounded as a measure, for instance, was 
as nine to one ! As a matter of fact, the 
battle was decided almost entirely by the 
gunnery of the Americans ; for over one 
hundred heavy shot had struck the hull 
of the Macedonian, or about one every 
forty seconds during the close action, 
whereas only three shot had struck the 
United States ! In spite of their practice 
and experience, the gunnery of the 
British was so poor that it would have 
made no difference if their main battery 
had been forty-two-pounders, the result 
would have been the same. When it is 
considered that broadsides were ex- 
changed at a distance not greater than 
the width of an ordinary street and that 
a frigate would rise above the water 



82 STEPHEN DECATUE 

about as high, as a small two-story house^ 
and cover seven or eight ordinary street 
lots, the inability of the English to hit 
becomes remarkable. The explanation 
lies in the famous remark of Admiral 
Farragut, to the effect that the best pro- 
tection from the enemy's attack is a 
rapid and well-directed fire from our 
own guns. As a matter of fact, the 
Macedonian was simply overwhelmed by 
the rapid and accurate fire of the United 
States. 

Decatur had handled his slower ship 
with consummate skill. He had so 
manoeuvred as to inflict the most damage 
to the enemy with the least risk to his 
own force, — the end and aim of good 
generalship. He had made use of his 
advantage in armament in the most brill- 
iant way, and the excellent gun practice 
of his men was as much due to his ability 
as a commander as had been the way in 
which he had handled his ship. Much 
credit also was due to the fii^t lieutenant, 



STEPHEN DECATUE 83 

Allen. His countrymen, who had long 
known of Decatur's daring and gallantry, 
were delighted at the exhibition of skill 
and seamanship, strategy and tactics, 
which he had made. 

The victors treated the vanquished 
with the utmost consideration. Decatur 
paid Garden his own price for all belong- 
ing to him that could be taken from the 
prize which the Englishman did not care 
to retain. The American officers and 
men followed their captain's example in 
their dealings with the enemy. After 
the battle, while Garden and his officers 
and the British crew were being removed 
to the United States, and before a sufficient 
prize crew had been sent aboard, some 
of the British sailors broke into the spirit- 
room, and indulged in a drunken orgie. 
Many of the wounded, being supplied 
with liquor at this time by their com- 
rades, died from excesses. The ship 
was a scene of horror. Dead, dying, 
and drunken men, lying on the shat- 



84 STEPHEI^ DECATUE 

tered, bloody deck, rolled to and fro in 
the helpless, unstable wreck. Groans, 
curses, drunken blasphemies, and ago- 
nizing yells and screams from the 
wounded added their quota of horror 
to the awful scene. 

The United States lay by the Macedo- 
nian for two weeks ; and by the most 
arduous labor she was refitted and 
placed under the command of Allen, 
the gallant and able first lieutenant, 
when the two ships returned to the 
United States. The Macedonian was the 
only one of the great European frigates 
defeated in this war which was brought 
to this country. She remained long on 
the list of the American Navy, render- 
ing efficient service in many a cruise, 
finally serving as a practice ship for the 
I^faval Academy, after its establishment 
in 1845. 

Decatur and his men were received 
with the greatest enthusiasm on their 
return to the United States. On the 



STEPHEN DECATUE 85 

night of December 8 official society in 
Washington was in attendance at a pub- 
lic ball. President Madison and his wife 
were present, with Commodores Hull 
and Stewart, Captain Morris, and many 
others, when young Archibald Hamil- 
ton, a midshipman on the United States 
^ and the son of the Secretary of the 
( Navy, came into the room with Deca- 
tur's report in his hands and the flag 
of the Macedonian wrapped around his 
c shoulders. When he told his thrilling 
. story, he was caught up in the arms of 
the men present, the flag torn from his 
shoulders and waved over the heads of 
the company, while cheer after cheer 
rang through the ball-room. 

Decatur, with Hull and Jacob Jones, 
: who had captured the Gtcerriere and the 
Frolic respectively, were presented with 
gold medals by Congress, all the junior 
officers were presented with silver 
, medals, and prize-money was gener- 
ously distributed. Thanks were ten- 



86 STEPHEN DECATUE 

dered Decatur by tlie legislatures of 
several States, several handsome swords 
and pieces of plate were presented 
to Mm, and banquets and theatrical 
entertainments were given to the officers 
and men. His fame, which had been 
of the highest since 1804, could be no 
greater 5 but this brilliant sea fight still 
more endeared him to his countrymen, 
and intrenched him more firmly in 
their affections. The Macedonian was 
refitted, and under the command of 
Jacob Jones, together with the United 
States and the Sornety forming a squad- 
ron under Commodore Decatur, dropped 
down to New London in the hope of 
getting to sea again — a hope which 
unfortunately proved futile, as the ships 
were blockaded there for over a year. 

Decatur extended a challenge to Com- 
modore Hardy, who commanded the 
station, to meet the Undymion and the 
Statira with the United States and the 
Macedonian. The challenge, after a cor- 



STEPHEN DECATUE 87 

respondence not discreditable to either 
party, and certainly not to Decatur, was 
refused. Seeing no hope of escaping 
the blockade, Decatur finally dismantled 
his ships, and in April, 1814, was given 
command of the frigate President and 
the squadron at New York. It is note- 
worthy that Decatur was the only cap- 
tain who commanded in turn the three 
great American ships, the Constitution^ 
the United States^ and the President 



\ 




While Decatur commanded the Presi- 
dentj and the authorities were fearing that 
the British fleet and army, which after- 
ward captured and burned Washington 
and went to disastrous defeat at New 
Orleans, might descend upon New York, 
the navy department placed the naval 
defences of that city and harbor under 
his charge. Decatur thus found himself 
in command of a force of upward of five 
thousand men, comprising the crews of 
all the war- vessels, privateers, and mer- 
chantmen, the garrison, the men of the 
shore batteries and the volunteer militia. 
These he drilled and disciplined and 
trained in the most assiduous and effec- 
tive manner, animating all with his gal- 
lant spirit. This was, I believe, the 
largest land force, if it can be so char- 
acterized, ever under the command of 
an American naval officer. 

When it was seen that New York was 



STEPHEN DECATUE 89 

not the object of attack, Decatur of 
course resumed command of his squad- 
ron. Taking advantage of a strong off- 
shore gale, which would naturally drive 
the blockaders from their station, on the 
evening of January 14, 1815, the weather 
being very cold, the President alone 
weighed anchor from her station off 
Staten Island, and stood down the bay, 
leaving her consorts to follow at the next 
convenient opportunity. The destina- 
tion of the squadron was the British East 
Indies, with a rendezvous at Tristan da 
Cunha. The frigate passed Sandy Hook 
in a half gale of wind, and was going at 
a splendid rate, when at eight o'clock in 
the evening, the pilot having mistaken 
the channel, because the boats stationed 
to mark it had been improperly placed, 
the ship, deep laden with stores for a long 
cruise, took ground heavily on the bar. 
The high sea and heavy wind rolled 
her and thumped her upon the hard sand 
with great force. Quick seamanship and 



"^I 



90 STEPHEN DECATUE 

good discipline saved the masts and spars 
from going by tlie board. Preparations 
were at once made for getting lier off; 
and, after an hour and a half of wrench- 
ing and straining, the rising tide enabled 
her to cross the bar into deep water. 
She had received severe injuries, the 
exact nature of which it was then impos- 
sible to determine ; but several of her 
rudder braces were broken, a large part 
of the false keel had been torn away, 
and the ship had been completely 
^^ hogged'' — i.e,, her back was twisted 
and broken, not sufficiently ta wreck her, 
but so as to impair materially her mobil- 
ity and speed. 

Decatur would have returned to the 
harbor, but the furious off-shore gale 
absolutely prevented it. To have an- 
chored would have been impossible, or, 
if possible, it w^ould have meant merely 
waiting for the return of the blockading 
squadron. There was nothing to do but 
to go on. Accordingly at ten o'clock 



STEPHE:N" DECATUE 91 

under all the sail she could carry^ the 
President headed eastward^ and ran 
along the Long Island shore for about 
fifty miles ; when^ reasoning that the 
British ships would have endeavored to 
beat up against the heavy gale^ in order 
to retain their position off the mouth 
of the harbor^ Decatur ran off to the 
south-east to make for the distant ren- 
dezvous. Fortune, however^ did not 
favor him. Either because they were 
unable to keep their station or^ as it is 
claimed, owing to the keen supposition 
of Captain Hayes of the Majestic, the 
senior of&cer present, that in escaping 
the Americans would in all probability 
take the course followed by Decatur, the 
British ships were cruising off the east 
end of Long Island just where Decatur 
made his turn to the southward. 

The early morning revealed a first, 
and then a second, a third, a fourth, and 
later on a fifth vessel. The violence of 
the wind had moderated considerably ; 



92 STEPHEIST DECATUE 

and, with a whole-sail breeze, Decatur 
had at once come by the wind on the 
port tack, hoping either to distance his 
pursuers or, if that were impossible, to 
seek shelter in the sound, or, failing that, 
to run the President ashore. Everything 
that the ships could bear in the way of 
canvas was at once flung out ; and a 
long, stern chase began. 

The President^ like the other American 
frigates, a very swift ship, lagged in a 
most unaccountable manner ; and the 
British men-of-war, skilfully sailed, be- 
gan to close in upon her. Early in the 
morning the Majestic fired several broad- 
sides, which fortunately fell short. De- 
catur lightened his ship by pumping out 
water, throwing the provisions over- 
board, cutting adrift boats, and doing 
everything that good seamanship and 
experience could dictate, such as wetting 
down the sails, flattening out sheets by 
tackles, etc., to increase the speed of his 
ship, but without avail. 



STEPHEN DECATUE 93 

It is to be remembered that none of the 
officers or men were familiar with the 
sailing qualities of the President: they 
had had no experience with her what- 
ever; and in the delicate operation of 
lightening ship, and altering her set 
upon the water, they had to be guided 
by general principles alone. The effect 
on the sailing qualities of the ship by an 
altered trim may be seen from the note 
on page 63 regarding the United States. 
Even had they known the President, the 
terrible wrenching and straining to 
which she had been subjected would 
have rendered their knowledge more or 
less useless. As brilliant a seaman and 
as able officers and crew as ever trod a 
deck or passed a weather ear-ring, were 
upon that ship ; but, try as they would, 
they could not gain. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon the 
leading ship of the enemy, which was 
astern and to leeward on the starboard 
quarter, began firing from her bridle and 



94 STEPHE^f DECATUE 

bow ports. This was the Undymion, the 
same with which Decatur had vainly 
endeavored to arrange a contest while 
blockaded at New London. She was com- 
manded by Captain Hope^ and had been 
especially prepared by the British ad- 
miralty to cope with the heavy Ameri- 
can ships of the Constitution class. She 
was a twenty - four-pounder fifty -gun 
frigate, and of course an equal match for 
the President^ which she greatly excelled 
in speed and mobility in the American's 
unfortunate condition. The President 
returned the fire with her stern- chasers 
and one or two after-guns ; but the En- 
dymion was excellently handled, and fin- 
ally took a position off the quarter of the 
President^ in which the latter could not 
bring a single gun to bear upon her and 
from which the English ship could deliver 
a terribly galling fire. Maintaining this 
position with great skill, Captain Hope 
continued to pour his shot into the help- 
less American, checking the superior 



STEPHEI>r DECATUE 95 

speed of his ship by yawing from time to 
time^ and in each instance delivering 
broadsides. 

Men were falling^ killed and wounded, 
on the decks of the Fresident, guns were 
dismounted^ sails and rigging cut to 
pieces ; and the position became unten- 
able. Of course, Decatur could have 
changed his course and brought the Un- 
dymion to action at once ; but the pur- 
suing ships would have captured him. 
So he grimly held on, until, after greatly 
increasing his distance from the consorts 
of the EndymioUj he decided to carry 
out a plan upon which he had deter- 
mined previously, — a plan which for 
boldness and daring well accords with 
the character of the man. It was his 
intention suddenly to alter the course of 
his ship, and, being to windward, run 
down the Endymion and capture her by 
boarding, and, after scuttling his own 
ship, escape in the swifter sailing Eng- 
lish frigate ! The details were explained 



96 STEPHEN DECATUR 

to the officers. The crew were called 
aft, and the project revealed to them 
in the following characteristic speech, 
which was received with wild cheers : — 

^^My lads, that ship is coming up with 
us. As our ship won't sail, we'll go on 
board theirs, every man and boy of us, 
and carry her into JSTew York. All I 
ask of you is to follow me. This is a 
favorite ship of the country. If we 
allow her to be taken, we shall be 
deserted by our wives and sweethearts. 
What, let such a ship as this go for' 
nothing ! 'Twould break the heart of 
every pretty girl of Ilfew York.'' 

Immediate preparations were made to 
board. Suddenly, about six o'clock in 
the evening, the helm of the President 
was put up hard, the after-sails shivered, 
and she gracefully swept around before 
the wind to run down her tenacious 
pursuer ; but Captain Hope, with equal 
promptness and skill, frustrated the ef- 
fort by duplicating Decatur's manoeuvre^ 



STEPHEN DECATUR 97 

and the two ships now ran off side by 
side^ at right angles to their former 
course. It was only necessary for the 
other pursuers to take the hypothenuse 
of the triangle to close with the President 
His plan having failed^ Decatur now 
endeavored to cripple the Endymion, in 
order that he might shake her off and 
escape from the squadron. The two 
vessels sailed side by side for nearly two 
hourS; pouring broadside after broadside 
into each other at short range. The 
execution on the Fresident was awful. 
A thirty-two-pound shot from the first 
broadside of the Endymion cut off the 
right leg of Babbitt, the first lieutenant; 
who was standing near the ward-room 
hatch, through which he actually fell 
to the main deck, breaking the thigh of 
his wounded leg in two places. He died 
dictating messages of affection to his 
friends. A short time after this mishap 
Decatur stepped upon a shot-box to ob- 
serve the enemy, and was struck in the 



98 STEPHEIS^ DECATUE 

chest by a large splinter^ which, hurled 
him prostrate and senseless on the deck. 
The anxious men gathered about him ; 
but^ when he recovered^ he refused to 
be taken below to have his wounds 
dressed^ and ordered them back to 
their stations. Later in the action he 
was struck in the forehead by another 
splinter^ which inflicted a painful wound 
and covered his face with blood. His 
third lieutenant^ Hamilton^ whom we 
saw carrying the colors of the Macedo- 
nian to Dolly Madison's ball at Wash- 
ington^ a very gallant young of&cer, 
whose favorite expression was^ ^^ Carry 
on^ boys^ carry on/' was struck by a 
grape-shot, and instantly killed while he 
was in the act of uttering it. Eichard 
Dale, the son of the distinguished old 
commodore, had his left leg shot off, and 
died a few days after its amputation. 
Many of the petty officers and men were 
also killed and wounded. Eeuben James 
was wounded three times, having twice 



STEPHEN DECATUE 99 

heroically refused to leave his station. 
The President was much cut up in spars 
and rigging^ although everything still 
held ; and it was found she was making 
water fast from the leaks which had 
developed since her grounding. But 
her own battery had been superbly 
served. Il^ever were guns fought better. 
The fire of the Endymion was mainly 
directed at the hull of the Fresident, 
while the fire of the American had been 
concentrated upon the spars and rigging 
of the English ship ; yet the latter ship 
found herself in bad case. By eight 
o'clock every sail had been stripped 
from her yards ; spars and rigging had 
been cut to pieces, and her battery had 
been completely silenced. After an 
hour and a half of close action the fire 
of the Endymion began to slacken : inter- 
vals of more than a minute elapsed with- 
out a single shot from her guns. At 
half after eight the Endymion, com- 
pletely helpless from the loss of her 



100 STEPHEN DECATUE 
sails and with most of her port guns dis- 
mounted or disabled, dropped out of 
action, — adrift on the sea. She had 
been beaten to a standstill. Had the 
two ships been alone, Decatur could 
have chosen any position he desired, and 
forced her to strike without delay. 

At this moment a junior lieutenant, 
Howell, eighteen years of age, who com- 
manded the quarter-deck division of 
guns, looked over the rail toward the 
EndymioTiy saying gayly, as he did so, 
^^ Well, we have beaten that ship at any 
rate.'' As he spoke, there came a flash 
from the bow of the other ship ; and he 
added, ^^No, there she is . . . '' when he 
was struck by a grape-shot, and instantly 
killed. That was the last shot fired by 
the Endymion, The President discharged 
a few more guns into her silenced antag- 
onist, then Decatur bore up, came up by 
the wind, and resumed his former course 
under a press of sail, from the royal 
studding-sails down. So thoroughly had 



STEPHEN DECATUR 101 
the Endymion been beaten that Decatur 
in these evolutions indifferently offered 
the stern of the President to her battery 
without her making the slightest effort 
to rake the American frigate^ which she 
could have done with effect at close 
range^ had she been able to discharge 
a single gun. The Undymioriy as a factor 
in the contest^ had been eliminated. 
The Fresident lost twenty-four killed and 
fifty-five wounded, the Endymion eleven 
killed and fourteen wounded. 

The wind had shifted again, the sky 
was overcast, and Decatur now had great 
hope of escaping ; but the President had 
lost much ground by the changed course 
and by action with the Endymion, and 
the other British ships were very near. 
The moonlight shone through rifts in the 
I clouds ; and, though every light had been 
extinguished on the President, the pur- 
suers were enabled to get a glimpse of 
Iher from time to time. Finally, when 
the clouds cleared away about eleven 



102 STEPHEN DECATUE 

o'clock at nightj the Fresident found that 
the Fomo7ie, 38 (a ship like the Guerrierey 
the Macedonian^ and the Java) had 
reached a position close alongside on the 
port bow. The Tenedos, a similar ship 
to the Fomone, was within easy rangf 
on the quarter 5 and the Majestic^ a fifty ij 
six-gun razee (i.e., a cut-down line-ol ') 
battle ship) was within gunshot right 
astern. The Fomone poured in a broad- 
side, the Tenedos opened fire, and the 
Majestic prepared to tack and rake. 

To avert further useless slaughter, 
seeing that escape was hopeless with his 
shattered ship, with nearly one hundred 
of her crew killed and wounded, three 
of his lieutenants killed and the sailing- 
master severely wounded, Decatur de- 
termined to surrender. He remained 
upon the deck and bade the men leave 
their stations for their protection, while 
he called out to the Fomone that they had 
struck. His statement was not under- 
stood in the confusion ; and the Fonione 



STEPHEN DEOATUE 103 
continued lier destructive fire, killing 
and wounding a number of men. Decatur 
at once summoned his men to their 
quarters again, thinking that the Pomone 
intended to sink them, and intending, 

"lerefore, to fight to the last. At this 
oment, however, the Pomone^ observ- 
ig that the light at the peak of the 

President was being hauled down, sus- 
pended her fire, hailed, and received 
answer that the ship had struck. 

As Decatur had surrendered to a 
squadron, he was rowed to the Majestic^ 
and then handed his sword to Commodore 
Hayes, who commanded the squadron. 
The Englishman returned it at once with 
the words which Decatur had previously 
spoken to Garden of the Macedonian. 
Decatur then returned to the President^ 
and went below to have his wounds 
dressed. The squadron of course hove 
to, and the shattered and battered 
JEJ?^%m^07^ joined the rest some two hours 
afterward. In spite of these undisputed 



104 STEPHEN DECATUR 

facts certain Britisli writers put forth 
the preposterous claim that the President 
was beaten by the Endymion — a claim 
stultified by their official reports, the de- 
cisions of the prize court, and now aban- 
doned. 

The next day the three officers who 
had been killed were buried from the 
gangway of the Fresidenty Decatur him- 
self reading the services and the British 
marines guarding the prisoners doing 
the last honors. The captured Americans 
were then transferred to the Endymion ; 
and, after refitting as weir as possible, 
that ship, with the President^ set sail for 
the Bermudas. It came on to blow vio- 
lently during the voyage, and the ships 
separated. In the storm the Endymion 
lost all of her masts, and was compelled 
to throw overboard all of her quarter- 
deck and forecastle guns to keep from 
foundering. The President also lost her 
masts and a small part of her spar-deck 
battery. Both ships, however, arrived 



STEPHEN DECATUE 105 
safely, the President in much the better 
condition. Decatur was soon paroled 
and sent home, but before he arrived 
news of the signing of peace had preceded 
him. It was with a heavy heart that he 
landed at New London on February 22, 
1815 ; but the reception he met with 
everywhere from his countrymen showed 
that he had not forfeited their esteem, 
and dispelled in large measure his sad- 
ness. The government also gave him 
signal proof of its confidence in him. 

Soon after Decatur was assigned to 
his next command, the court of inquiry, 
invariably convened when a ship of the 
government is lost, was called to inves- 
tigate the surrender of the President 
After four days of rigid examination of 
the circumstances, this court found that 
the loss of the President had been caused 
by injuries sustained in striking the bar ; 
that none of her officers was to blame 
for that unfortunate happening ; that no 
I means had been left untried to get her 



106 STEPHEI^ DEOATUE 

off tlie bar^ and, when pursued, to es- 
cape ; that the flight of the President 
and the way she had been handled gave 
the highest evidence of the experience, 
skill, and resource of her commander 
and the ability and seamanship of her 
officers and crew 5 that their conduct 
during the chase, the attempt they made 
to board the Endymion, the way they 
had fought that ship to a standstill, and 
their whole course in the action were 
worthy of the highest commendation. 
They stated that Decatur had ^^ evinced 
great judgment and skill, perfect cool- 
ness, the most determined resolution and 
heroic courage ; that his conduct and 
the conduct of his officers and crew is 
highly honorable to them, to the Ameri- 
can ITavy, and deserves the warmest 
gratitude of their country 5 that they 
did not give up their ship till she was 
surrounded and overpowered by a 
force so superior that further resistance 
would have been unjustifiable and a 



STEPHEInT DBCATUE 107 

useless sacrifice of the lives of brave 
men. ' ' 

The verdict of the court, composed 
of able and disinterested officers of rank 
and distinction (among them Alexander 
Murray and Isaac Hull) rendered upon 
oath, after taking the testimony of the 
eye-witnesses of and participants in the 
incident, should be absolutely conclu- 
sive. When to this verdict is added 
Decatur's well-known character for 
capacity and courage, which does not 
rest upon words only, but had been re- 
peatedly attested by deeds, there would 
seem to be no room to raise the doubt 
which certain writers have recently 
raised concerning his conduct while in 
command of the President j or to question 
the justice of the findings. 



VI. 

FiYE days after tlie promulgation of 
the Treaty of Peace the President rec- 
ommended that war be declared against 
Algiers. The recommendation was 
acted upon on March 2 ; and Decatur 
and Bainbridge, the latter being the 
senior^ were ordered to command two 
heavy squadrons of war- vessels for the 
Mediterranean. Decatur's squadron, 
being further advanced in preparation, 
got first to sea, and on May 20 sailed 
for the Barbary States. 

The squadron, which comprised the 
frigates Guerriere^ Macedonian^ and Con- 
stellationj the sloop-of-war Ontario, the 
brigs Upervier, Fire-fly^ Flambeau, and 
8parJc, and the schooners Spitfire and 
Torch, reached the Mediterranean on 
June 15. The Bey of Algiers had taken 
advantage of our war with England to 
capture a belated American merchant- 
man, the brig Edwin, and sell her crew 



STEPHEN DECATUE 109 
into slavery. The other Barbary States 
were under the impression that the 
British would sweep the Americans 
from the sea^ and that they could work 
their villanies without fear of retribu- 
tion. Tunis and Tripoli, the latter un- 
mindful of its recent lesson, had amused 
themselves by breaking the rules of 
neutrality and permitting British vessels 
to cut out from their harbors American 
prizes, which had been sent in by the 
privateer Abellino. They had also done 
other high-handed and insulting things. 
The Algerine Navy was much larger 
than the force under the command of 
Decatur, but most of it fled to the friendly 
harbor of Malta. On June 17, while 
about twenty miles from Cape de Gata, 
the flagship Meshoiida, 46 guns, under 
the command of Admiral Eais Hammida, 
a man of uncommon boldness and cour- 
age, who had had a distinguished career 
from his youth up, was discovered by 
the American squadron, which immedi- 



110 STEPHEN DECATUE 
ately attempted to close with her. The 
Constellation^ being nearest, first opened 
fire, effectively followed by the Ontario ; 
but a change in the course of the 
Algerine brought her within easy range 
of the Guerriere, which passed near 
her, holding her fire until close aboard, 
and then delivering two tremendous 
broadsides with such coolness and pre- 
cision and at so short a range that the 
ship was virtually beaten at that time. 
Hammida, who had been wounded by 
a shot from the Constellation^ but had 
bravely remained on deck, directing the 
ship, was cut in two by a forty-two-pound 
bolt from one of the Guen^iere^ s c^nnon- 
ades. As the American flagship shot 
ahead, the Meshouda, catching a favor- 
able slant of wind, wore and endeav- 
ored to escape. 

The little eighteen-gun brig Epervier, 
Captain Downes, then took a position on 
the quarter of the Algerine ; and by the 
exercise of the most daring and brilliant 



STEPHEN DECATUE 111 

seamansliipj backing and filling^ the 
little brig ranged from one quarter to 
another^ keeping close aboard and deliv- 
ering nine consecutive broadsides before 
tlie other ships could get into action. 
The Meshouda was raked repeatedly by 
the Upervier. She finally surrendered. 
Decatur stated that he had never seen a 
vessel better handled nor fought than 
the Upervier, The Algerians had thirty 
killed and many wounded ; the Guerrierey 
four wounded by the enemy and three 
killed^ and three killed and seven 
wounded by the bursting of one of her 
main- deck guns. There were no casual- 
ties on the Upervier. 

On June 20 the Epervier and some of 
the smaller vessels captured a large twen- 
ty-two-gun brig. The Algerine^ which 
was called the Estedio^ being hotly pur- 
sued^ ran ashore ; and the Americans took 
possession. Part of her crew made off in 
boats, one of which was sunk by a shot 
from the pursuing vessels. Twenty-three 



112 STEPHEIsr DECATUR 
dead were found upon her decks^ and 
eighty were made prisoners. The Estedio 
was floated off the shoal and sent back 
to Cartagena as a prize. 

On June 28 Decatur arrived off 
Algiers. The harbor of Algiers was so 
well fortified that England a year later 
thought six ships-of-the-line^ with accom- 
panying frigates and transports^ under 
Lord Exmouth, were not too great a 
force for its reduction. The expedition 
was inspired by Decatur's brilliant 
campaign with his small force of frigates 
and minor war vessels. Decatur imme- 
diately determined to attack the batter- 
ies with his little squadron; but^ be- 
fore doing so^ the Swedish consul^ being 
summoned by a signal, came aboard 
with the Algerian captain of the port. 
Upon learning of the fate of the Me- 
shouda, the latter made proposals for 
settlement. Bainbridge, Decatur, and 
Mr. Shaler were commissioners author- 
ized to treat for peace. As Shaler was 



STEPHEN DECATUE 113 
with Decatur, it was not necessary to 
wait for Bainbridge. Decatur demanded 
the return of the prisoners and an in- 
demnity of ten thousand dollars for the 
Edwin and her cargo. He was invited 
on shore to discuss the treaty, but he 
sternly declared that the matter should 
be settled on the deck of his flagship or 
nowhere. The Algerian asked for a 
truce while the treaty could be con- 
sidered. Decatur refused. He then 
asked for three hours' time, and the reply 
was: — 

'^ISot one minute ! If your squadron 
appears before the treaty is signed by the 
Dey, and sent off with the American 
prisoners, ours will capture it.'' The 
most that Decatur would concede was that 
hostilities should cease as soon as the 
Algerine boat should be observed return- 
ing under a white ^ag, the Swedish 
consul pledging his honor that it should 
not be displayed unless the treaty were 
signed and the prisoners in the boat. 



114 STEPHE5s^ DECATUE 

With a very ill-grace the Algerian 
went ashore to report to the Dey. While 
they were waiting his return, an Algerine 
man-of-war was seen approaching. De- 
catur threw out signals for a general 
chase, and bore down upon her in the 
Guerriere, the rest of the squadron fol- 
lowing in pursuit. The Algerine was 
well inshore, and made desperate efforts 
to reach the harbor. Decatur had de- 
termined to capture her by boarding, 
even under the batteries ; and he com- 
municated his intention to the crew, 
who as usual received his words with 
cheers. On this day he wore the badge 
of the Cincinnati Society and was 
dressed in his full uniform — laced coat 
and hat, tight cassimere pantaloons, long 
boots bordered at the top with gold lace 
and with tassels of gold also. He was 
not accustomed to go thus clad into 
action ; for it is reported that he had 
fought the Macedonian wearing a suit of 
old shore clothes and an old straw hat, 



STEPHEN DECATUE 115 
looking more like a farmer than any- 
thing else. When the Guerriere was 
about to open fire, the boat of the Al- 
gerian negotiator was seen coming up 
the harbor at the utmost speed, with 
a white flag flying at the fore. The 
squadron was therefore called off, and' 
the Guerriere headed for the boat. 

^^Is the treaty signed!'' exclaimed 
Decatur, with impatience, as the captain 
of the port and the Swedish consul 
reached the deck of the Guerriere. 

^^It is/' replied the consul, as he 
placed the paper in the hands of the 
commodore. 

^^Are the prisoners in the boaf?" 

^^ They are." 

^ ' Every one of them ? ' ' 

^^ Every one, sir." 

The statement was indeed true. On 
June 30 all the provisions of the treaty 
were carried out, and the war with 
Algiers was over. 

On July 8 the squadron left Algiers ; 



116 STEPHElf DECATUR 
and^ after stopping at Sardinia for water, 
etc.^ on the 26tli of the month they 
arrived at Tunis. Decatur sent a de- 
mand to the Bey for forty-six thousand 
dollars, the value of the two prizes of the 
AbelUno, with the threat that, if the 
money were not paid in twelve hours, he 
would commence hostilities. The Bey 
invited the admiral to come ashore, but 
Decatur declined. Finally, on the dis- 
tinct pledge that payment should be 
made in accordance with the American 
demand, Decatur landed, and received 
the money. The British consul, who had 
urged the Bey to his iDrevious course, 
enjoyed a bad quarter of an hour under 
the sarcastic remarks of the Tunisian 
ruler. 

On August 2 the squadron sailed for 
Tripoli, arriving on the 5th of the same 
month. Thirty thousand dollars, and a 
salute to the American flag which was to 
be rehoisted over the American consulate, 
were demanded from the Bashaw for the 



STEPHE:^^ DECATUE 117 
other two prizes of the AbelUno which 
the British had retaken. The Bashaw 
had no stomach for a fight. He asked an 
abatement of the indemnity, and Decatur 
consented to receive twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars, learning that that amount 
would be a fair price for the prizes ; 
but he stipulated in addition that the 
Bashaw should release ten Christian 
slaves of whom he had heard, — two of 
whom were Danish youths and the others 
Sicilians. The money was paid, the 
captive Christians delivered, the ensign 
saluted, and the band of the Giterriere 
was sent on shore for the purpose of 
playing ^^Hail Columbia.'' Peaceable 
relations were established with the Tri- 
politans, therefore, on August 7. 

Seventy- one days after the squadron 
had set sail from New York, all the wars 
were over ! In one of Decatur's letters 
to the navy department he says, — 

^^I trust that the successful result of 
our small expedition, so honorable to 



II 



118 STEPHEN DECATUE 

our country, will induce other nations 
to follow the example, in which case the 
Barbary States will be compelled to 
abandon their piratical system." 

His words were prophetic, and the 
iniquitous career of the corsairs was 
closed by England in the following year. 
The credit, however, of having first 
enforced free passage for merchant-^ 
vessels and maintained the right at the 
cannon's mouth remains with the little 
American republic. 

Decatur was received with the greatest 
distinction in the various Mediterranean 
ports at which he stopped, especially at 
Naples. The squadron was sent to 
Malaga to meet Commodore Bainbridge, 
who had arrived at Gibraltar on Septem- 
ber 29, with the second American squad- 
ron. While Decatur was proceeding 
from Cartagena alone in the Guerriere, 
he fell in with an Algerine squadron of 
four large frigates and three sloops- of- 
war on the way from Malta to their 



STEPHElSr DECATUE 119 

home port. The Algerines, in line of 
battle, swept down npon the Guerriere 
with their men at quarters. Decatur 
sent his men to quarters, and cleared 
for action, addressing them briefly, as 
follows : — 

^^My lads, those fellows are approach- 
ing us in a threatening manner. We 
have whipped them into a treaty ; and, 
if that treaty is to be broken, let them 
break it. Be careful of yourselves. 
Let any man fire without orders at the 
peril of his life. But let them fire first, 
if they will ; and we'll take the whole 
of them.'' 

Decatur's speeches were always short 
and to the point. 

The Guerriere had the weather- gauge, 
and sailed defiantly along the Algerine 
line, which passed by in grim silence, 
the last ship carrying the admiral's flag. 
As the latter came alongside the Guer- 
riere he hailed, and the following con- 
versation took place : '^ Dove andante f " 



120 STEPHEI^ DECATUE 
(Where are you bound?) Taking the 
trumpet from the officer of the deck, 
Decatur instantly shouted in a tone of 
defiance, '' Dove mi piace.^^ (Where I 
please. ) 






VII. 

On October 7, having turned over the 
command of the squadron to Bainbridge, 
Decatur set sail for l^ew York, which he 
reached on ITovember 18. Soon after- 
ward he was appointed, with Commo- 
dores Eodgers and Porter as his 
colleagues, one of the Board of Isfavy 
Commissioners, and stationed at Wash- 
ington, where he built himself a hand- 
some residence. 

Possessed of ample fortune, blessed by 
the companionship of a devoted and 
highly accomplished wife, in the enjoy- 
ment of a responsible and dignified posi- 
tion, and having received every honor 
in his chosen service which it was pos- 
sible for him to enjoy, he looked forward 
to a long, happy, and useful life in the 
service of his country. Not that he 
sighed for hours of ease and pleasure, 
for he says in one of his letters, — 

^^ After all this, my dear friend, what 



122 stephe:^ decatue 

shall I do ? We liave no war nor signs 
of a war^ and I shall feel ashamed to die 
in my bed. '^ Fate had determined for 
him a sad end of which he little dreamed. 
Commodore James Barron^ whom De- 
catur had known during the whole of 
his naval career and under whom he 
had served several times in the United 
States and other ships^ had been sus- 
pended for five years for the Chesapeake- 
Leopard incident of 1807. The Leopard 
had met the Chesapeake just outside the 
Chesapeake Bay ; and^ after a bombard- 
ment which killed and wounded a num- 
ber of men^ she had taken from her 
deck three deserters^ two of whom were 
American citizens. The Chesapeake^ 
which was in a dreadful state of confu- 
sion, had only fired one shot in return 
for the fire of the Leopard ; and that shot 
would not have been fired, had it not 
been for Lieutenant Allen, afterward 
Decatur's executive officer on the United 
States^ who carried a live coal from the 



STEPHEI^ DEOATUE 123 

galley in his bare hands to ignite the 
priming and discharge the gun. After 
firing that one gun, Barron surrendered 
his ship ; but the English commander, 
refusing to receive the ship, took the 
deserters, and sailed away. Barron was 
tried by a court-martial. Though he 
had been acquitted of cowardice and of 
having failed to encourage or cheer his 
officers and men, he had been found 
guilty of going to sea in a state of dread- 
ful unpreparedness when the possibility 
of action was apparent, and for neglect- 
ing to call his men to quarters when that 
possibility appeared imminent. He had 
been sentenced to a suspension of five 
years. Decatur had been one of the 
court which had sentenced him. The 
sentence of suspension had expired five 
months after the War of 1812 broke out, 
but Barron did not return to the United 
States until the close of the war in which 
he took no part. He had reported to 
the navy department by letter during 



124 STEPHEN DECATUE 

tlie war^ and lie now made application 

for reinstatement in the service. 

As a Navy Commissioner, Decatur op- 
posed the application, not so much on 
the ground of the original misfortune 
while Barron was in command of the 
Chesapeake as because he had not re- 
turned and taken part in the war. It 
was a matter of principle with Decatur, 
who disclaimed any personal animus 
whatsoever toward Barron, for whom, 
indeed, he seemed to have cherished a 
certain feeling of regard. The Navy 
Commissioners, under the Secretary of 
the Navy, at that time administered the 
affairs of the department ; and the com- 
missioners might, in a certain sense, be 
said to have been in command of the 
navy, of which Barron would be re- 
garded as a subordinate officer, so that 
their decision practically settled the 
question. 

Barron, when he learned of Decatur's 
views, began a correspondence with him 



STEPHEI^ DEOATUE 125 

on June 12, 1819, which continued until 
February 6, 1820, and resulted on that 
day in a challenge. Decatur had per- 
sistently refrained from challenging 
Barron in spite of much provocation, 
and the summons to the combat came 
from the latter. Decatur, indeed, had 
nothing whatever to gain from a duel, 
and everything to lose. Conditions 
with Barron were different, and he 
acted accordingly. Efforts were made 
by friends to avert the threatened meet- 
ing, but they were unavailing. Captain 
Jesse D. Elliott, who was himself under 
a cloud for his conduct in the battle of 
Lake Erie, is generally believed to have 
been responsible for the unfortunate end 
of the correspondence. He had con- 
veyed such a garbled version of Deca- 
tur's words and actions to his principal 
as rendered the encounter unavoidable, 
and he acted as Barron's second. Com- 
modore Bainbridge acted as the friend 
of Decatur. On March 22 the comba- 
tants met at Bladensburs*. 



126 STEPHEN DECATUE 

That a military commander was Bot 
obliged by tlie code of bonor to grant a 
meeting to a dissatisfied subordinate was 
folly understood, the contrary idea be- 
ing subversive of all discipline. But 
Decatur refused to avail bimself of any 
such, exemption. He only entered upon 
the duel from a sense of duty. Decatur 
was an excellent marksman, a perfect 
master of his weapon ; and he had deter- 
mined not to kill his antagonist. In 
fact, he had at first made up his mind 
not to return his enemy's fire at all, 
following the example of Commodore 
Perry, to whom he had acted as second 
in his duel with Captain Heath of the 
Marine Corps, some years before. But 
Barron was a very near-sighted man ; 
and, instead of placing the opponents 
at the usual distance, eight paces had 
been agreed upon in view of Barron's 
infirmity of vision. Under the cir- 
cumstances, Decatur, who had no wish 
to lose his own life^ felt that it would 



STEPHEIsT DECATUE 127 

not be safe for him to refrain from 
firing. So lie determined to wound his 
adversary in tlie Mp, just where he 
had shot the mate of the merchantman 
years before. 

In the morning^ after an early break- 
fast, the little party met on the duelling 
ground. The distance was measured by 
Commodore Bainbridge, and the two 
seconds proceeded to load the pistols. 
Bainbridge won the choice of position, 
and chose the lower place. The two 
adversaries were placed opposite each 
other. Commodore Bainbridge stated 
that he would give the word quickly as 
follows : ^ ^ Present, one . . . two . . . 
three ! '' and they were not to fire before 
the word ^*one" nor after the word 

three." At this moment Barron ob- 
served to Decatur that he hoped, should 
they meet in another world, they would 
be better friends than they had been in 
bhis. Decatur replied gravely and 
][uietly, ^^I have never been your 



128 STEPHEIf DECATUE 
enemy^ sir.'' It seems as tlioiigli the 
matter miglit have been arranged after 
snch an intercliange of sentiments^ even 
at tliat moment ; bnt no propositions 
were made by either party. 

Bainbridge then pronounced the fatal 
words. At the word ^^two/' both men 
fired simultaneously. Barron fell badly 
wounded in the right hip, just where 
Decatur had said he would hit him. 
Decatur stood for a moment erect, then 
pressed his hand to his right side and 
fell. The bullet from Barron's pistol 
had passed through the abdomen, in- 
flicting a wound necessarily fatal then, 
as another such would probably be even 
now. As he lay on the ground, he 
said these sad words: ^^I am mortally 
wounded, at least I believe so ; and I 
wish I had fallen in defence of my 
country." 

He was raised and supported a short 
distance, when he again sank down 
by the prostrate Barron, whose second. 



STEPHEN" DECATUE 129 
Captain Elliott, had fled from the scene 
of the conflict when he saw the disas- 
trous result of it. Barron was lying on 
the ground alone. He declared that 
everything had been conducted in the 
most honorable manner, and told Deca- 
tur that he forgave him from the bottom 
of his heart. What he had to forgive 
I do not know. 

It was reported that Decatur asked 
Barron why he had not returned to the 
i United States, and that Barron answered 
that he had been imprisoned for debt, 
and had been therefore unable to re- 
turn. As to that, in 1821, with all the 
'facts in its possession, a court of inquiry 
decided that his absence during the war 
^was without permission of the govern- 
Iment and contrary to the duty of an 
officer of the United States, and the 
evidence of his inability to return was 
f^Qot satisfactory. 

^ The fleeing Elliott having been caught 
and brought back by Commodore Por- 



130 STEPHEN DECATUE 
ter, Barron was taken away^ and De- 
catur was removed to Ms home at once. 
The family were at breakfast when he 
reached the door. He was suffering in- 
tensely. Indeed, he remarked several 
times during the course of the day that 
he would not have believed it i)ossible 
for any human being to suffer such pain ; 
but those who were with him said, in all 
his anguish, not one groan or murmur 
came from him. With characteristic 
chivalry, he refused to allow his wife 
to stay in the room with him, that she 
might be spared the sight of his agony 
and death. Having made his will and 
disposed of his affairs, he lingered until 
ten o'clock that night, when death 
mercifully put an end to his sufferings. 
Oh, the pity of it all ! 

In the House of Eepresentatives the 
following day Eandolph of Eoanoke 
moved that the House adjourn to attend 
the funeral of Decatur on Friday, and 
that the members should wear crape on 



ti 



STEPHEN DECATUR 131 

their arms during the remainder of the 
■session in testimony of respect. Mr. 
^Taylor^ of New York, opposed the mo- 
jtion, saying that, though he yielded to 
[no member of the House in respect for 
[the memory and public service of De- 
^catur, it was with the most painful re- 
gret that he felt constrained to say that 
[he had died in violence to the laws 
I of God and his country. He could not 
J therefore consent to the distinguished 
jand unusual honors which had been 
] proposed. The motion was withdrawn ; 
I and, though it was repeated again, it 
jlfwas wisely not put to a vote. Both 
Houses, however, adjourned without 
specifying the purpose, and followed 
the remains to the grave. 

The funeral was attended by the Presi- 
dent, the cabinet, the chief justice and 
the associate justices of the Supreme 
Court, the Senate and House of Eepre- 
jfsentatives, the officers of the army and 
^navy, the foreign ministers, and a vast 



132 STEPHEI^ DECATUE 

concourse of citizens. Among the pall- 
bearers were Commodores Eodgers, Por- 
ter and MacDonougli of the navy and 
General Brown of the army. The body 
was temporarily laid away in the vault 
at Kalorama^ the beautiful country-seat 
of Joel BarloWj on the banks of the 
Potomac. It was afterward removed to 
the cemetery of St. Peter's Church, 
Philadelphia, where it now lies beside 
that of his father and his mother. A 
modest tombstone marks the resting-place 
of the hero. 

The nation universally^mourned for 
him, and so popular and beloved had he 
become that we may venture to say of 
him, as was said of a greater and nobler 
man, one of that brave Dutch people 
from whom he sprang, ^^As long as he 
lived, he was the guiding star of a whole 
brave nation; and, when he died, the 
little children cried in the streets.'' 

His whole life had been devoted to his 
country. It had been his good fortune 



STEPHEN DECATUE 133 

to render conspicuous and brilliant ser- 
vices in every station in wliich lie liad 
been placed. There is no blemish upon 
his fame in his public career. His pri- 
vate life had been equally blameless^ and 
his family and social relations were of a 
noble and tender character. As a seaman 
and an officer he was second to no one. 
He enjoyed the highest society of his 
time and was one of the most cultivated 
and refined gentlemen of his day. His 
person and his manners were attractive 
and charming. He was above the me- 
dium height^ well proportioned^ grace- 
ful and strong. His hair and beard were 
of a dark chestnut color and curly^ his 
eyes black and lustrous^ generally soft 
and gentle in expression^ and rarely 
brilliant in moments of action and ex- 
citement. His nose was slightly aqui- 
line and rather large ; his mouth, mod- 
erate in size and finely curved ; his 
complexion^ clear and pale and rather 
dark. 



134 STEPHEN DEOATUE 

He was one of those rare characters 
who are equally beloved by men and 
women. With the former he was a 
genialj kindlj^, affectionate comrade. 
Toward the latter he was a devoted, 
gallant and respectful friend. His 
married life, though not blessed by 
children, was otherwise very happy, and 
he was the idol of the children of his 
day. He was gentle and companionable 
in his tastes, temperate in his pleasures, 
quiet in his manner, with a low and 
pleasing voice. The high temper with 
which he had been born was kept under 
control except in rare instances, when 
he was excited by injustice, deceit, or 
oppression. He was an upright, God- 
fearing man, an Episcopalian by bap- 
tism and rearing ; and, although his 
wife was a Eoman Catholic, he never 
failed to attend the services of his own 
church whenever his duties permitted. 
He was generous to a fault, and after his 
death there came to light many instances 



STEPHEN DECATUR 135 

of his benefactions which were hardly 
known during his life. 

Loyalty to his country was the very 
breath of life to Decatur. It is even 
said that, when he offered his hand to 
her who afterward became his wife, he 
told her that he had devoted himself to 
his country, and that it should ever have 
the first place in his heart. Our judg- 
ment does not entirely approve the 
ethic significance of his famous senti- 
ment, ^^My country, — may she ever be 
right, but, right or wrong, my coun- 
try" ; but our affections tend to make 
the sentiment our own. There is a ring 
of sincerity in the words and in him 
which wins us in spite of all. Even his 
faults were of a kind which attract 
rather than repel. But it is as a 
fighter, in the highest and best sense of 
the word, that Decatur is remembered 
by us ; and we may close this brief ac- 
count of him with a quotation, slightly 
altered, from a tribute to Lawton, a 



136 STEPHEI^ DEOATUE 

great American soldier^ who died but 
yesterday : — 

^^The man of the Intrepid is the incar- 
nation of some shining^ helmeted warrior 
who fell upon the sands of Palestine in 
the First Crusades, with the red blood 
welling over his corselet and his two- 
handled battle-sword shivered to the 
hilt. The race type persists unchanged 
in eye, in profile, in figure. It is the 
race which in all the centuries the 
Valkyrs have wafted from the war- 
decks,— the white-skinned race, which, 
drunk with the liquor of Battle, reeled 
around the dragon standard at Senlac, 
which fought with Eichard Grenville, 
which defied Alva in the Nether- 
lands, which fought the winter at Valley 
Forge, which broke the Old Guard at 
Waterloo, which rode up the slope at 
Balaklava, which went down with the 
Cumberland at Hampton Eoads, which 
charged with Pickett at Gettysburg, — 
the race of the trader, the financier, the 



STEPHEN DECATUR 137 

statesman, tlie inventor, the colonizer, 
the creator, but, before all, the fighter.'' 
High, brave, loyal, and splendid, the 
great commodore stands before me a 
glorious figure ; and I salute him, '^ The 
Bayard of the sea." 



BIBLIOGEAPHY. 

Decatur has been much written about, 
and short biographies of him abound. 
Only two persons, however, have at- 
tempted to write a comprehensive life. 
The principal authorities are noted in 
the subjoined list. I have not referred 
to the numerous magazine articles and 
essays, which give no new facts concern- 
ing him ; nor is it necessary to do more 
than to mention the letters, speeches, 
memorials, etc., accompanying the claim 
of Mrs. Decatur for prize-money for the 
destruction of the FMladelphia. In the 
naval histories referred to below, elabo- 
rate and interesting accounts of Deca- 
tur^ s war services are given. 

I. Life and Character of Stephen 
Decatur, etc. By S. Putnam Waldo, 
Middletown, Conn. Printed by Clark 
& Lyman for Oliver B. Cooke, 1822. 
Second edition. Contains several inter- 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 139 

esting old pictures^ but is of little value 
otherwise. 

II. ISTATIONAL PoitTBAIT GALLERY. 

By James B. Longacre and Joseph Her- 
ring. First edition. Three volumes. 
Philadelphia : Henry Perkins. 1834. 
There have been numerous editions of 
this book ; and^ although there have 
been slight changes in the subject-mat- 
ter^ the account of Decatur is practically 
unaltered. 

III. History of the ]^avy. By J. 
Fenimore Cooper. Philadelphia : Lea 
& Blanchard. 1839. Contains sketches 
of public services and biographical note. 
A very valuable book^ and the founda- 
tion of all the subsequent naval histories 
of the United States. 

IV. Library of American Biog- 
raphy. Conducted by Jared Sparks. 
Second Series. Vol. XI. Life of 
Stephen Decatur. By Alexander Slidell 



140 BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Mackenzie^ U.S.N". Boston : Charles C. 
Little & James Brown. 1846. A care- 
fully studied and well-written narrative 
and a most valuable and accurate con- 
tribution to tlie subject^ indispensable to 
the student. It is^ unfortunately, out 
of print and rare. 

V. Field Book of the War of 1812. 
Benson J. Lossing. IsTew York : Harper 
& Brothers. 1868. 

VI. Memoir of Commodore Porter. 
By Admiral David D. Porter, U.S.N. 
Albany: J. Munsell. 1875. The book 
throws some interesting side-lights upon 
the duel and last hours of Commodore 
Decatur^ especially with reference to the 
conduct of Captain Elliott. 

VII. The AuTOBioaRAPHY of Commo- 
dore Charles Morris. Boston : A. 
Williams & Co. 1880. Published for 
the Naval Institute^ Annapolis^ Md. 
Valuable information concerning the 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 141 

cutting out of the Philadelphia and life 
in the early navy is given in this, a 
scarce and interesting pamphlet. 

VIII. The IsTaval War of 1812. By 
Theodore Eoosevelt. New York : G. P. 
Putnam's Sons. 1882. The author 
seems to have a prejudice against Deca- 
tur^ to whom he refers slightingly in 
one instance and censures in another. 

IX. History of the I^avy. By Edgar 
Stanton Maclay. IsTew York : D. Ap- 
pleton & Co. 1894. The best and most 
reliable of all the histories of the navy. 

X. Great Men ais^d Famous "Womeist. 
Edited by Chas. F. Home. 'New York : 
Selmar Hess. 1894. Contains an inter- 
esting sketch by Edward S. Ellis, who 
received valuable details from a personal 
interview with Commodore Stewart. 

XI. I^AVAE History of the United 
States. By WiUis J. Abbot. New 
York : Dodd, Mead & Co. 1896. 



142 BIBLIOGEAPHY 

Xn. Naval. Actions of the War of 
1812. By James Barnes. Xe^r York : 
Harper & Brothers. 1896. An enthu- 
siastic and excellent book. ^1 

XIII. Twelve Xayal Captains. By 
Molly Elliot Seawell. Xew York : 
Charles Scribner's Sons. 1897. 

XIV. History of our Xayy. By 
John E. Spears. Xew York : Charles 
Scribners Sons. 1897. A popular and 
interesting book^ filled with rare and 
valuable illustrations. 

XV. Decatur and Somers. By Molly 
Elliot Seawell. Xew York : D. Apple- 
ton & Co. 1898. Third edition. A 
clever and attractive story of the early 
service^ containing much that is inter- 
esting. 

XVI. Ajmerican Xaval Heroes. By 
John Howard Brown. Boston : Brown 
& Co. 1899. 



The beacon BIOGRAPHIES. 

M. A. DeWOLFE HOWE, Editor, 



The aim of this series is to furnish brief, read- 
able, and authentic accounts of the lives of those 
Americans whose personalities have impressed 
themselves most deeply on the character and 
history of their country. On account of the 
length of the more formal lives, often running 
into "large volumes, the average busy man and 
woman have not the time or hardly the inclina- 
tion to acquaint themselves with American bi- 
ography. In the present series everything that 
such a reader would ordinarily care to know is 
given by writers of special competence, who 
possess in full measure the best contemporary 
point of view. Each volume is equipped with 
a frontispiece portrait, a calendar of important 
dates, and a brief bibliography for further read- 
ing. Finally, the volumes are printed in a form 
convenient for reading and for carrying handily 
in the pocket. 

SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY, Publishers, 

6 Beacon Street, Boston. 

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